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ANCIENT BUDDHISM IN JAPAN 





BUDOHICA 

DOCUMENTS ET TRAVAUX POUR L’ETUDE DU BOUDDHISMe’ 
PUCLiiis sous UA luRucTioN UK JEAN EEZYLtrSKI 
PREMIEHE SKHIC : MKMOIRKS TOME III 


ANCIENT BUDDHISM IN JAPAN 

SUTRAS AND CEREMONIES IN USE IN THE 
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES A.D. 

AND THEIR HISTORY IN LATER TIMES 

BY 

Dr. M. W. DE VISSER 

PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN • 



"PARIS, *1928 

PAUL GEUTHNER 


LIBRAIRIE ORIENTALISTE 

13. RUE JACOB (Vie) 





ANCIENT BUDDHISM IN JAPAN 
I 




BUDDHICA 

DOCUMENTS ET TRAYAUX POUR L’ETUDE DU BOUDDHISME 
PUBLICS sous UA, uinucTiON DE JEAN EHZYLTJSKI 
PREMIERE SliRIE : MEMOIRES TOME III 


ANCIENT BUDDHISM IN JAPAN 

SUTRAS AND CEREMONIES IN USE IN THE 
SEVENTH AND EIGHTH CENTURIES A. D. 

AND THEIR HISTORY IN LATER TIMES 

BY 

Dr. M. W. DE VISSER 

PROFESSOR OF JAPANESE IN THE UNIVERSITY OF LEYDEN 

VOLUME I 



.PARIS, ,1928 

LIBRAIRIE ORIENTALISTS PAUL GEUTHNER 
13, RUE JACOB (Vie) 




TO THE LOVING MEMORY 
OF HIS BELOVED PARENTS, WIFE AND SISTER 
AND TO HIS DEAR SON 
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR. 




PREFACE 


Buddhism is the great light of the East. Thousandfold are its 
golden rays, spreading from olden times over Asia’s peoples. It 
brought them new life and wisdom, it changed their conceptions, 
it opened their eyes to a higher Truth. It penetrated their inner 
consciousness more deeply and to a greater extent than all other 
thoughts. Moreover, notwithstanding their great variety, it formed 
a universal bond of union between these peoples. Mahayana 
especially was the greatest blessing of the Far East. 

From the seventh century Japanese history is inseparably con- 
nected with Buddhism. First Korea, then China poured over the 
capital their inexhaustable treasures of Indian thought, whence 
they gradually spread all over the country. In the eighth century 
this process was greatly intensified by the influence of the Nara 
Court, especially of the Emperor Shomu and his daughter, the 
Empress Ksken (Takano, ShOtoku), and of the principal sects, 
Hossd and Sanron. In those ages we are, as it were, in the vestibule 
of Japanese Buddhism, magnificently adorned by the art of China 
and Japan. In the beginning of the ninth century, however, when 
the great Dengyo Daishi and Kobo Daishi introduced from China 
the (partly mystic) Tendai and the wholly 'mystic Shingon doc- 
trines, (to continue the simile) we enter the stately building itself. 
A pompous entrance leads us into a suite of splendid rooms, the 
Heian, Fujiwara, Gempei, Kamakura, Ashikaga periods. Then 
follow the dark and gloomy chambers of the civil wars (beginning 
with the Onin era, in the middle of the fifteenth century), until 
we come into the quiet and sunny garden of Tokugawa. In the 
beginning of Meiji dark shadows ;,fall upon the Buddhist fields, 
but soon as of old they are again bathing in rays of brilliant 



sunlight, and at the present day a new and glorious epoch has 
commenced ! 

The original aim of this book was to treat of the sutras and 
ceremonies with which the vestibule is so richly adorned. However, 
the desire to proceed into the building itself and to see the same 
texts and rites illumined by new and ever-varying light and 'CO- 

I 

lours, proved irresistible. So we went on and visited many rooms, 
and explored the spacious garden, sometimes finding the ancient 
texts shining in greater and greater beauty, sometimes deploring the 
decay and death of the splendid ceremonies of ancient times. In 
treating them separately — which was necessary in order to 
delineate their history — we had to retrace our steps at every 
new subject, passing again from the vestibule through the same 
entrance into the same suite of rooms. To me, the writer, intensely 
interested in this study, it never became monotonous, because 
each subject evinced entirely new aspects. To the reader the 
work may have some value as a book of reference and information 
on certain ancient Buddhist texts and ceremonies and their use 
in Japan from olden times down to the present day. Its object 
will be attained if at the same time it gives him some insight 
into the life and soul of Japanese Buddhism. 

In composing this book the main sources of information were 
Chinese translations of satras, the Japanese Annals, biographies 
of priests, and some ancient Japanese works on ceremonies. I 
am also greatly .indebted to Nanjd’s invaluable Catalogue of the 
Chinese Tripitaka, to Oda’s and the Bukkyo Daigaku’s great 
Buddhist dictionaries Bukkyo Daijiten and Bukkyo Daijii, to 
Washio’s Nihon Bukke jimmei jisho, to Yoshida’s Dai Nihon 
chimei jisho, and to the learned articles and beautiful illustrations 
in the Kokk{w)a. Moreover, the works of other eminent Japanese 
scholars of Buddhism, such as Matsumoto, Takakusu und Suzuki, 
were, of course, of great value to me. European scholars, especially 
Kern, Griinwedel and De Oroot, were often my guides in 
Questions concerning Buddhist texts, images and ceremonies. 



IX 


Finally, I tender my best thanks to Professors Caland, Vogel, Przyluskl 
and De la Vallee Poussin, and to my younger friends Dr. Rahder and 
Dr. Stutterheim, for their kind and valuable information concerning 
certain details of Indian and Chinese Buddhism. At the same 
time I express my sincerest thanks to Miss D. E. Hecht for her 
kind ^assistance in carefully and critically correcting the language 
of this book, to Professor Jean Przyluski for kindly including it 
in his Series of Buddhist works, and to Mr. Paul Geuthner for 
his great generosity in editing it together with the other books 
of that Series. 

Leyden, 1928. M. W. DE VISSER. 



The author is much indebted to the firm Brill of Leiden, to 
its helpful director Mr. Peltenburg for the particular care he 
bestowed on the printing of this exceptionally difficult work, and 
to Mr. Barens (foreman) and Martijn (compositor) for their unfailing 
energy and meticulous concentration. On account of illness and 
the slow progress made in publishing numerous instalments, the 
author regrets very much not to have been able to consult recent 
publications relating to his subject-matter. 


Leyden, 1931. 


Prof. Dr. J. RAHDER. 



TO THE LOVING MEMORY 
OF HIS BELOVED PARENTS, WIFE AND SISTER 
AND TO HIS DEAR SON 
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED 
BY THE AUTHOR. 




PREFACE 


Buddhism is the great light of the East. Thousandfold are its 
golden rays, spreading from olden times over Asia’s peoples. It 
brought them new life and wisdom, it changed their conceptions, 
it opened their eyes to a higher Truth. It penetrated their inner 
consciousness more deeply and to a greater extent than all other 
thoughts. Moreover, notwithstanding their great variety, it formed 
a universal bond of union between these peoples. Mahayana 
es^cially was the greatest blessing of the Far East. 

From the seventh century Japanese history is inseparably con- 
nected with Buddhism. First Korea, then China poured over the 
capital their inexhaustable treasures of Indian thought, whence 
they gradually spread all over the country. In the eighth century 
this process was greatly intensified by the influence of the Nara 
Court, especially of the Emperor ShSmu and his daughter, the 
Empress Koken (Takano, Shotoku), and of the principal sects, 
Hosso and Sanron. In those ages we are, as it were, in the vestibule 
of Japanese Buddhism, magnificently adorned by the art of China 
and Japan. In the beginning of the ninth century, however, when 
the great Dengyo Daishi and Kobo Daishi introduced from China 
the (partly mystic) Tendai and the wholly mystic Shingon doc- 
trines, (to continue the simile) we enter the stately building itself. 
A pompous entrance leads us into a suite of splendid rooms, the 
Heian, Fujiwara, Gempei, Kamakura, Ashikaga periods. Then 
follow the dark and gloomy chambers of the civil wars (beginning 
with the Onin era, in the middle of the fifteenth century), until 
we come into the quiet and sunnv garden of Tokugawa. In the 
beginning of Meiji dark shadows fall upon the Buddhist fields, 
but soon as of old they are again bathing in. rays of brilliant 



Vlll 


sunlight, and at the present day a new and glorious epoch has 
commenced! 

The original aim of this book was to treat of the sutras and 
ceremonies with which the vestibule is so richly adorned. However, 
the desire to proceed into the building itself and to see the same 
texts and rites illumined by new and ever-varying light and co- 
lours, proved irresistible. So we went on and visited many rooms, 
and explored the spacious garden, sometimes finding the ancient 
texts shining in greater and greater beauty, sometimes deploring the 
decay and death of the splendid ceremonies of ancient times. In 
treating them separately — which was necessary in order to 
delineate their history — we had to retrace our steps at every 
new subject, passing again from the vestibule through the same 
entrance into the same suite of rooms. To me, the writer, intensely 
interested in this study, it never became monotonous, because 
each subject evinced entirely new aspects. To the reader the 
work may have some value as a book of reference and information 
on certain ancient Buddhist texts and ceremonies and their use 
in Japan from olden times down to the present day. Its object 
will be attained if at the same time it gives him some insight 
into the life and soul of Japanese Buddhism. 

In composing this book the main sources of information were 
Chinese translations of sutras, the Japanese Annals, biographies 
of priests, and some ancient Japanese works on ceremonies. I 
am also greatly indebted to Nanjo’s invaluable Catalogue of the 
Chinese Tripitaka, to Oda’s and the Bukkyo Daigaku's great 
Buddhist dictionaries Bukkyo Daijiten and BukkyD Daijii, to 
Washio’s Nihon Bukke jimmei jisho, to Yoshida’s Dai Nihon 
chimei jisho, and to the learned articles and beautiful illustrations 
in the Kokk{w)a. Moreover, the works of other eminent Japanese 
scholars of Buddhism, such as Matsumoto, Takakusu und Suzuki, 
were, of course, of great value to me. European scholars, especially 
Kern, Griinwedel and De Groot, were often my guides in 
questions concerning Buddhist texts, images and ceremonies. 



IX 


Finally, I tender my best thanks to Professors Caland, Vogel, Przyluski 
and De la Vallee Poussin, and to my younger friends Dr. Rahder and 
Dr. Stutterheim, for their kind and valuable information concerning 
certain details of Indian and Chinese Buddhism. At the same 
time I express my sincerest thanks to Miss D. E. Hecht for her 
kind assistance in carefully and critically correcting the language 
of this book, to Professor Jean Przyluski for kindly including it 
in his Series of Buddhist works, and to Mr. Paul Geuthner for 
his great generosity in editing it together with the other books 
of that Series. 

Leyden, 1928. M. W. DE VISSER. 




BOOK I 

THE SEVENTH CENTURY 




CHAPTER 1. 


THE SUTRAS USED IN THE SEVENTH CENTURY. 
§ 1. List of the sutras, in chronological order. 


The sutras of early Japanese Buddhism are the following 
numbers of Nanjo’s Catalogue of the Buddhist Tripitaka. 


^1) No. 59 

A.D. 606, 
VII 

Shdmangyo j 

i 

1 

1 


SrTmala-devT-simhanada, trans- 
lated A.D. 435-453 by Guna- 
bhadra (App. II 81). 

An earlier translation of No. 
23(48). 1 fasciculus. 

2) No. 134 

A.D. 606 

Hokkekyd \ 

(Myoho-rengekydJ. j 

1 

j 

1 

t 

M 

Saddharma-pundarTka-sufra, 
translated A.D. 402-412 by 
Kuniarajlva (App. II 59). This 
is the translation used in Ja- 
pan. 7 fasc., 28 ch. Cf. Nos. 1 ^ 8 , 
139; 1232, 1233 (comm.). 

3) No, 27 

A.D. 640, 
V 5-,Q52, 
IV 15 

Maryoj'i-kyo 


Aparimitayus-sutra, an earlier 
translation CA.D. 252) of No. 23 
(5), the large Amitayus-sStra 
or Sukhdvafl-vyuha (about 
A.D. 700). 2 fasciculi. Cf. Nos. 
25, 26, 203, 863. 

4) - 

A.D. 642, 
yil 27 

Daijo kyoten 


General term for the “Sutras 
of Mahay ana"-, read in vhin 
against drought. 


5) No. 146 


6) No. 303 


7) No. 17 


8) No. 127 


9) No. 10 


673, 111 : 

677VIII15 




A.D. 656 

Yuima(kitsu)kyo 


VimalakTrti nirdesa (sUtra), 
translated A.D. 402—412 by 
KumarajTva (App. II 59). 3 
fasc., 14 chapters. Cf. Nos. 147, 
149; 144, 145, 181; 1632 
(comm.) 

A.D. 659, 
VII 15 

Urabongyd 


Avalambana stifra, translated 
A.D. 266-313 (or 317) by 
Dharmaraksha I (App. II, 23); 
sufra on the offering of food 
to the Sangha for the benefit 
of Pretas. 2 leaves. Cf. No. 304. 
Comm.: No. 160’‘.. Cf. Ch. IV. 

A.D. 660, 
V; 676, XI 
20 

Ninno-hannya-kyo 


"Prajnaparamitd-sutra (ex-"' 
plaining) how benevolent 
kings (kdrunika-raja) may 
protect their countries.” T rans- ■ 
lated A.D. 402-412 by Ku- ■ ' 
mara/rva (App. ll 59). 2 fasc., 

8 ch. Cf. Nos. 965; 1406 (d/i5- 
ranl); 1419, 1435 (rites); 1566, 
1567 (comm.). Cf. Ch. V. 

A.D. 676, 
XI 20; 680, 
Vi; 686, 
VII 8; 692, 
Interc. V, 
3;694,Vll; 
696, XII I. 

Konkwomyokyb 


Suvarna-prabhasa sutra, trans- 
lated A.D. 414—423 by Dhar- 
marakshall (App. 11 67). 4 fasc., 

18 ch. Cf. Nos. 126, 130; 1512, 
1516, 1548, 1549, 1552, 1553 
(comm.). 

A.D. 685, 
X 

Kongo-hannya-kyb 


Vajracchedikd-prajndpdramita 
sutra, translated A. D. 402 
by Kumarajiva. 14 leaves. Cf. 

Nos. 1(9), 11—15; comm,; 
1167, 1168, 1192, 1550, 1615, 
Expounded to cure the Em- 
peror Temmu. 



Sutra’s in use in the seventh century A.D. 


5 


10) No. 171 

1 

A.D. 686, 
V 24 

1 

i 

• 

Vakushikyo 

1 

j 

j 1 

Bhaisaj'yaguru-vaiduryapra- 
bhasa Tathagata-purvaprani- 
dhana-sutra, translated A.D. 
650 by Hiien-tsang (App. II 
133). 1 fasc. Cf. Nos. 167 (2), 
170, 172, 173. Expounded to 
cure the Emperor Temmu. 

11) No. 137 

i 

i 

1 

j 

A.D. 686, 

VII 28, 

VIII 2 

Kwanzeongyo 

(Fumonbonj 

1 

' 1 

1 

1 

1 

(wpm) 

1 

1 

' ) 

Avalokitesvara-sutra, i.e. the 
Kwanzeon Bosatsu Fumonbon, 
the 25th section of the //oAr/lre- 
kyo (Lotus sutrd). Prose trans- 
lated A.D. 406 by KumarajTva; 
gSthas translated A.D. 561-578 
by Jiianagupta (App. 11, 125, 
129). 7 leaves. Read to cure 
the Emperor Temmu. 


The Daihannyakyo ^ ^ Nanjo No. 1, Mahaprajna- 
paramita-sutra) and the Yuimakyo (Nanjo Nos. 146, 147, 149, 
VimalakTrti-nirdesa, cf. p. 4), very important sutras of ancient 
Japanese Buddhism, are not mentioned in the yet accord- 

ing to the Genko Shakusho (cf. below, § 5) the latter text was 
used in the seventh century. The Kongd-hannyakyo, used during 
the Emperor Temmu’s illness, is No. 9 of the sixteen sutras of 
the Daihannyakyo (cf. below, § 9). 

§ 2. The Shomangyo (Srimata-devT-simhanada, Nanjo No. 59) 
and the Hokkekyd (Lotus Sutra, Nanjo No. 134). 

In A.D. 606 (7th month) the Empress Suiko requested Shotoku 
Taishi to lecture on the Shomangyo (Nanjo No. 59, cf. p'. 3), an 
earlier translation of Nanjo No. 23 (48) (Bodhiruci II’s translation, 
A.D. 693—713, App. 11 150), made by Gunabhadra (App. II 81), 
who translated A.D. 435 — 453. Its full title is ^ ^ 

“Vaipulya-sutra on the great 
good means (hoben, to convert marAind), being the Srtmala (devT) 
simhanada” (1 fasciculus). Bodhiruci called it ^ ^ A. 



6 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


“{Sutra spoken at) an assembly by the Princess Srimald" (No. 23, 48). 
ShStoku Taishi completed his explanation of this text in three days. 

In the same year he lectured in the Palace of Okamoto on the 
Hokkekyo, i. e. the Myohd-rengekyo (cf. p. 3), Saddharma-punda- 
rJka-sutra, Nanjo No. 134, translated A.D. 402 — 412 by the famous 
KumarajTva (App. II 59, mostly abbreviated into 

who in A.D. 401 arrived in the Chinese capital Ch‘ang-an). ’ 
The following translations of the Lotus sutra are found in NanjS’s 
Catalogue of the Chinese canon. 


No. 136 

1 

m 

translator’s 
name lost 

265-316 

j 

4 leaves 
(only ch. 11 
and 12) 

No. 138 


Dharmaraksha I 
(11 23) 

266-313 

i 

10 fasc. ; 
28 ch. 

No. 137 

^ pm 

KumarajTva 

(prose) 

(11 59) 
Jnanagupta 
(the gat has) 

(II 125) 

406 

557-589 

7 leaves; 
only ch. 25, 
the Fumon- 
bon, cf. be- 
low, § 11. 

No. 134 

1 

# ^ 

KumarajTva 
(II 59) 

402-412 

7 fasc. ; 
28 ch. 

! 

No. 139 


Jnanagupta 
(II 129) 

585-592 

8 fasc.; 
27 ch. 



Dharmagupta 

11 131 

601 



' Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 381; Aston II, p. 135. The annals are quoted 
from the Kokushi Taikei, ^ ; the Nihongi is Vol. I of this 

series of 17 volumes {Tokyo, 1897 — 1901). 




Hokkekyo and Muryojukyo. 


7 


Cf. Nos. 1232 and 1233 (Vasubandhu’s commentary) ; 1388 
(Amoghavajra) ; 1510, 1511, 1518, 1534—1537, 1547 {Tien-Vai 
commentaries), 1555 — 1558 {T‘ien-t‘ai commentaries on No. 137, 
the Fumonbon or Kwannongyd), 1623 {T‘ien-t‘ai commentary). 

Kumarajlva’s translation (No. 134) was, and is still now-a-days, 
the text in frequent use (cf. , ^’s modern edition with 

Japanese translation, Tokyo, Meiji shoin, 1914). 

The rites of repentance, based upon the Lotus sutra, are treated 
below (Ch. Vlll, § 18, Hokke sembo), and its contents and further 
use in japan are dealt with in Book H, Ch. XVI. 

§ 3. The Muryoju-kyd (Aparimitayus-sutra, Nanjo No. 27). 

In A. D. 640 (V 5) “a great Buddhist maigre entertainment 
13l ^) given in the Palace by the Emperor Jomei, 

who requested the priest Eon expound the MuryOju- 

kyO ^ ^ Nanjd No. 27, the large Amitayus sutra or 
Sukhdvati vyuha). In this way this priest, who, after having studied 
Buddhism in China for 31 years, had returned to Japan in A.D. 
639, made the Japanese Court and the priests acquainted with 
the Araitabha cult. ' 

In A.D. 652 (IV 15) he again explained the same sutra in the 
Palace; the sramana Eji (^ was imde rongisha ^ ^ ) 
“discusser”, i. e. the priest who dealt with the sutra by means 
of questions and answers ; the Genko Shakusho uses the term 
monnan, 5^ “he who puts questions with regard to diffi- 

culties”) and “a thousand sramanas constituted the audience”. ^ 

Seven of the twelve translations of the large Sakhavafi-vyuha 
(dating from the second to the fifth century of our era) are 
lost. The remaining five are the following numbers of Nanjo’s 
Catalogue. 

’ Nihongi, Ch. xxiii, p. 406; Aston II, p. 170. Genko Shakusho, Ch. xx, 
K. T. K. XIV, p. 988. * 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 453; Aston II, p. 241. Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxi, p. 992. 



8 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


No. 25 

® M 

■ 

Lokaraksha? 

II 3 

147 (or 164) 

— 186 

3 fasc. 

No. 26 

u 

Chi K'ien 
[ II 18 

223—253 

2 fasc. 

No. 27 

^ ^ 

Sahghavarman 

II 14 

252 

2 fasc. 

No. 23(5) 

SI 4 # 4b ^ 1 

i 

1 

Bodhiruci 11 

II 150 

1 

1 

693—713 

2 fasc. 

No. 863 


Fah-hien II 

11 159 

i 

i 

982—1001 

3 fasc. 


Cf. No. 203 ( 3^ ^ )- extracts from Nos. 25, 26, 

27 and 863, compiled in A.D. 1160 — 1162 by the minister of 
state Wang Jih-hiu, I B -ft. App. Ill 61). 

It is evident that Eon expounded Saiighavarman’s translation 
of this sutra (No. 27), for Bodhiruci II’s translation dates from a 
later time. 

As to the Amitabha cult and the rites of repentance in worship 
of this Buddha cf, below, Ch. VIII, § 16. 

§ 4. The Issaikyo (the whole Canon). 

In A.D. 651 (XII 30), when the Emperor Kbtoku was about 
to remove his residence to the new Palace of Ajifu, more than 
2100 priests and nuns were. invited to that Palace, and made 
to read the Issaikyo (— “all the sutras”, abbreviated 





Issaikyo and Yuimakyo. 


9 


from Issai kyo-ritsa-ron, “All sutras, vinayas and abhidharmas’\ 
i. e. the then existing canon, consisting of 5048 kwan). “That 
night over 2700 lights were lit in the courtyard of the Palace, and 
there were caused to be read the Antaku and Dosoku Sutras”^ 

, unknown texts, the titles of which mean 
“Peaceful House" and “Regulation (Outlining) of the Soil”; evi- 
dently used to consecrate the new Palace, where the Emperor 
took up his residence after this ceremony). ‘ 

As to the Issaikyo, this canon was copied in Kawara-dera in 
A.D, 673 (III), " and read (of course by means of the tendoku 

system, “turning and reading”, i. e. reading some lines 

in the beginning, the middle and the end of each sDtra) A.D. 677 
(VIII 15) at a “great feast of Buddhist fare given at the Asuka 

temple; the Emperor Temmu stood at the South Gate of the 

Teinple, and did obeisance to the Triratna”. “ 

As to the copying of the Issaikyo or Daizo A.D. 

767, 805 and 953, and the Issaikyo-e or Daizo-e and Daijo-e 
of the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth centuries cf. below. Book II, 
Ch. XV. 

§ 5. The Yuimakyo (Vimalakirti-nirdesa, Nanjo No. 146). 

As stated above, the Yuimakyo ^.) or Yuimakitsu 

is not mentioned in the Nihongi. Shiren (|Si0 i^), 
however, the author of the Genko Shakusho (written A.D. 1321 — 
1323, cf. below § 12) states that it was read in the second year 
of the Empress Saimei’s reign (A.D. 656). Then the Minister 
(Naijin) Nakatomi no Kamatari ( pfl 614 — 669) (the 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 452; Aston II, p. 240. According to the GenkO 
Shakusho, Ch. xx, K. T. K. xiv, p. 980, in A.D. 603 (x 4) the Antaku 
sutra was read {tendoku) at the removal of the Imperial residence to 
the Palace of Owarida. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. XXIX, p. 504; Aston II, p. 322. Cf. Bukkyo daijiten, p. 63, 
s. V. Issaikyo. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 513; Aston, II, p. 337. 



10 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

first of the Fujiwara’s, which family name he received the day 
before his death in A.D. 669, X 15) was ill for a long time, 
much to the distress of the Empress. Homyo, , a nun from 

Kudara, asked permission to expound it for the sake of the patient, 
because by reason of (ManjusrT’s) asking (VimalakTrti) about the 
cause of his illness (ch. 5) the great Dharma was explained. When 
the Empress asked her to do so, Kamatari recovered even before 
the nun had finished her task. ' The next year (A.D. 657, X) Ka- 
matari erected Yamashina-dera (111 if in Suehara ( |^ ) 

(Yamashina mura, Ujigori, Yamashiro province), and held a Yuima- 
saie, ^ ^ , or “Vegetarian meeting devoted to (the ex- 

pounding of) the Yuimakyo”. This was the origin of the Yuima-e, 
afterwards celebrated yearly in the tenth month (X 10 — 16) in 
Kofukuji at Nara. Another tradition says that in the eighth year 
of the Emperor Tenchi’s reign (A.D. 669) Kamatari’s principal wife 
erected this temple for his sake (he died X 16) and there placed 
the images of Shaka and his attendant Bodhisattvas Monju and 
Fugen, made by him in consequence of a vow. In A.D. 678 
Kamatari’s son Fujiwara no Fubito ( 659—720) trans- 

posed the temple to Umayazaka at Asuka (Yamato province) 
and gave it the name of Hokwoji ( ) or Umayazaka-dera 

^)- Finally, in A.D. 710 (Wado 3), Fubito again trans- 
posed it to Nara and changed its name into Kofukuji or Kobukuji 
(^ jjfg (the famous Hosso temple, one of the seven great 
shrines of Nara). As it is the family shrine of the Fujiwara’s, it 
was also called Kasuga~dera, ^ ^ , because the god of 

Kasuga was the tutelary deity of this family. 

The next year (A.D. 658) the sramana Fukuryo a 

‘ Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxi, K.T. K. Vol. XIV, p. 993; Faso ryakkl, Ch. iv, 
p. 516 sq. 

^ Cf. Bukkyo daijii (henceforth abbr. into Daijii), Vol. I, p. 1223, s. v. 
Kofukuji-, Bukkyo daijiten (henceforth abbr. into Daijiten), p. 455, 3, 
s. V. Kofukuji-, Yoshida Togo's Dai Nihon chimei jisho (henceforth quoted 
as Yoshida Togo), Vol. I, pp. 198 sqq. s. v. Kofukuji, p. 154 s. v. Yama- 
shina-dera-, Faso ryakki, Ch. xxx, K.T. K. Vol. Vi, p. 846. 



Yuimakyo and Urabongyd. 


11 


Sanron priest, expounded the Yuimakyo in Suehara {Yamashina- 
dera). This was a Chinese priest from Wu (;^), who lived in 

Gwangdji ^ (Asuka-deta, Hokoji, ^ ' 

The Yuimakyo or Vimalaktrti-nirdesa (^sutra) is found in Nanjo’s 
Catalogue under the following numbers. 


No. 147 

^ ^ 1 Chi K‘ien j 223-253 

3 fasc.. 


1 

I 1 

14 ch. 

1 

No. 146 

MM' KumarajTva | 402—412 

3 fasc.. 


1 

14 ch. 

No. 149 

Huen-tsang | 645—664 

6 fasc., 

«. 

i 

14 ch. 


Of these three KumarajTva’s translation was in frequent use. 
Another text, also called Vimalaktrti-nTrdesa, is found in Nos. 144, 
145 and 181. 

No. 1632 is a commentary on No. 146, compiled by the priest 
Sang-chao ( ^ ) (App. lit 2, a famous disciple of KumarajTva, 
who worked under the Latter Ts‘in dynasty, A.D. 384 — 417). 
Its title, "A commentary on the Vi- 

malakJrti-nTrdesa-sutra” , is generally abbreviated into . 

About further commentaries cf. Bukkyo daijii, III pp. 4425 sq. 
With regard to the Yuimae cf. below Book II, Ch. XI, § 6, and 
Ch. XV, § 4. 

§ 6. The Urabongyo (Avalambana-sutra, Nanjo No. 303). 

In A.D. 659 (VII 15) (the festival of the dead) the Avatambana 
sutra {Urabongyd, ^ ^ ^ ^ , Nanjo No. 303, translated A.D. 
266 — 313 (or 317) by Dharmaraksha I (App. II 23, ^ : he 

‘ Genko Shakusho and Fusd ryakkif ibidem. Cf. below, Book II, Ch. xii 

§ 3, A. 



12 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


arrived in Loh-yang A.D. 266), about the offering of food to the 
Buddha and the Sahgha for the benefit of the Pretas) was ex- 
pounded, by order of the Empress Saimei, in all the temples of 
the capital. ' Cf. below, Ch. IV (Urabon-e in A.D. 606, 647, 657). 
No. 304, ^ ^ ^ “Sutra spoken by Buddha on 

offering a vessel (of eatables to the Triratna) for recompensing 
the favour (of the parents towards the children) is a later trans- 
lation, dating from the Eastern Tsin dynasty (A.D. 317 — 420) 
(1 leaf). 

As to the Festival of the Dead cf. below Ch. IV. 

§ 7. The Ninno-hannya-kyo {Karunikardja-prajhaparamitd-sutra, 

Nanjo No. 17. 

In A.D. 660 (V) the Empress Saimei ordered the officials to 
prepare one hundred raised seats and one hundred nd-gesa 
(priestly robes), and to hold a NinnO-hannya no e { 
*•2#), i.e. a “Meeting devoted to the Ninnd-hannya-kyo" . 
This is the Ninno-gokoku-hannya-haramitsu-kyo, ■fzi 3E ^ ® 

“ Prajhaparamita-sutra on benevolent kings 
(kdrunika-raja) protecting their countries”, NanjO No. 17, trans- 
lated A.D. 402 — 412 by KumarajTva (App. II 59, cf. § 2); 2 fasc., 
8 chapters). - The number of the seats, robes and priests was in 
accordance with the words of the text, which afterwards (A.D. 
746—771) was translated for a second time by Amoghavajra 
(App. II 155), with a preface of the Emperor Tai-tsung (A.D. 
762 — 779) (Nanjo No. 965). Cf. Nos. 1406 (dharanis), 1419, 1435 
(rites), 1566, 1567 {T‘ien-t‘ai commentaries on this sutra, i. e. 
on No. 17). 

According to the Fusd ryakki (written about A.D. 1150, cf. § 12) 
and the Genko Shakusho (written in the Genko era, A.D. 1321 — 1323, 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, p. 465; Aston It, p. 263; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxi, 
K. T. K. XIV, p. 993. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, pp. 466 sq.; Aston II, p. 264 sq. 



Ninno-hannya-kyo 


13 • 


cf. § 12) the Ninnokyo was expounded in the Palace in the third 
month, and the meeting was held in the fifth. ' 

In this SLitra the Buddha explained to King Prasenajit and 15 
other benevolent kings, how they could protect their countries 
against all kinds of calamities, by means of the divine power of 
the Great Bodhisattvas of the Five Quarters, Vajrapani (E.), Vajra- 
ratnct (S.), Vajratiksna (W.), Vajrayaksa (N.) and Vajraparamita 
(Centre) (with their numberless followers), whose angry shapes 
are the Five Great-Power-Howl Vidyarajas, Godairikku Myd-o 
(S. I9l BJ 3E ), or Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas, Go- 

dairiki Bosatsu ( Whe shall deal with the 
contents and history of this sutra in Ch. V, in connection with 
the festival based upon it. 

In A.D. 676 (XI 20) “messengers were sent (by the Emperor 
Tefhmu) to all provinces to expound the Konkwdmydkyo and the 
Ninnokyd”. The day before he “had given orders to the provinces 
near the capital to release living things” {hdjd, 

In A.D. 693 (IX 23) (the seventh year of the Empress Jito's 
reign) “the Ninnokyo was begun to be expounded in the hundred 
provinces. This came to a close after four days”. ^ 

According to the Genko Shakusho in the tenth month of the 
same year the Ninnokyo mas expounded in the Palace together 
with the Saishd-o-kyo, and this was made a constant ceremony 
° This must be a mistake, since the Saishookyo dates 
from A.D. 700—712. 

As to the Ninnde and the further use of the Ninndkyd cf. 
below, Ch. V. 

' Fusd ryakki, Ch. v, K. T. K. iKokushi Taikei) vi, p, 517; Genko 
Shakusho, Ch. xxi, K. T. K. xiv, p. 993. 

2 Ninnokyo, Ch. Vii. 

B Nihongl, Ch. xxix, p. 5i2; Aston 11, p. 335. 

“* Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 566; Aston II, p. 413. 

^ Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxi, K. T. K. ^xiv, p. 1004. 



14 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 8. The Konkwomyokyo (Savarnaprabhasa-sutra, 

Nanjo No. 127). 

In A.D. 676 (XI 20) the first translation of the Savarna-prabhasa- 
sutra, made A.D. 414 — 423 by Dharmaraksha II (App. II 67, 
and entitled Konkwomyokyo, (Nanjo No. 127), is 

mentioned for the first time in Japan, together with the Ninnokyd 
(in the passage referred to in the preceding paragraph). Afterwards, 
between A.D. 700 and 712, the famous Chinese pilgrim I-tsing 
App. II 149) translated it in full; this ih.& Konkwomyo 
Saishoo-kyo, ^ ^ ^ 3E ^ > Suvarna-prabhasottama- 

raja-sutra, generally abbreviated into Saishookyd. The first trans- 
lation is mentioned again in the following passages of the Nihongi. 

In A.D. 680 (V 1) “the expounding of the Konkwomyokyo was 
begun in the Palace and in the various Buddhist temples”. ' ' 

In A.D. 686 (VII 8) "one hundred priests were invited into the 
Palace and made to read the Konkwomyokyo.” This was done to 
save the Emperor- Temmu’s life. - 

In A.D. 692 (Interc. V 3) on account of great floods "an Impe- 
rial order was given (by the Empress Jito) that the Konkwomyd- 
kyd should be expounded in the capital and in the four Home pro- 
vinces”. ^ 

In A.D. 693 (X) the Ninnokyd and the Konkwdmydkyd were, 
according to the Genkd Shakusho, * expounded in the Palace, 
but as the Nihongi does not mention this fact and the sutra is 
called Saishddkyd (which translation dates from after A.D. 700 
and evidently was not used in Japan before A.D. 734), the text 
quoted by the author of the Genkd Shakusho appears not to be 
trustworthy. 

In A.D. 694 (Vii) “one hundred copies of the Konkwdmydkyd 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 519; Aston II, p. 346. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 542; Aston II, p. 378. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 562; Aston II, p. 408. 

* Genkd Shakusho, Ch. xxi, p. 1004. 



Konkwomydkyo. 


15 • 


were sent (by the same Empress) and deposited in the various 
provinces, to be read without fail when the moon of the 
first month was in her first quarter. The fees (to the 
priests) were to be defrayed from the public revenues of the 
province”. ' 

In A.D. 696 (XII 1) again “an Imperial order was given (by 
the same Empress) that the Konkwomyokyo should be expounded, 
and that every year on the last day of the 12th month ten persons 
of a pure life should be made to enter religion” (apparently to 
cause felicity in the new year). - 

The different translations of the Suvarnaprabhasa-sutra are the 
following numbers of Nanjo’s Catalogue. 


No. \7J 


No. 130 


No. 126 


1 

1 

Dharmaraksha 11 

414—423 

4 fasc. ] 

Konkwomyokyo 

II 67 

1 

1 

1 

18 ch. 

j Compilation of three in- 

1 Pao-kwei 

! Ill 13 

1 

597 

8 fasc. ; 
24 ch. 

j complete translations : 

1 Jhanagupta 



I No. 127 and two other 

1 11 129 



! works, no longer exist- 
1 ing independently : A 

1 

Paramartha 

548—557 

7 fasc. ; 


II 104, 105 i 

i 

22 ch. 

! B 

Yasogupta 

561—578 

5 fasc. ; 

1 

11 124 


20 ch. 

ft#! 

Konkwomyo- 

SalshoO-kyo 

I-tsing 

II 149 

700—712 

10 fasc.; 

1 31 ch. 


' Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 567 ; Aston II,»p. 416. Fuso ryakki, Ch. v, p. 530. 
^ Nihongi, Ch. xxx, 571; Aston II, p. 421. 





16 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Cf. No. 974 {Bishamon-Tennd-kyo) (6 leaves), translated A.D. 
746—771 by Amoghavajra (App. II 155), a part of ch. 12 of 
No. 126. Nos. 1512 and 1516 contain “ceremonial rules for con- 
fession and recital of the Konkwomyo-Saishoo-kyo (No. 126)”, 
written about A.D. 1000 and 1020 by Vien-tai priests. Nos. 1548 
and 1552 are T‘ien-t‘ai commentaries on No. 127, orally given 
in A.D. 589—597 by ^ ^ Chi-che ta-shi (App. Ill 12, 

A.D. 531—597) and recorded by his disciple Kwan-ting, ^ 
(App. Ill 15, A.D. 561 — 632), the fourth and fifth patriarchs of the 
T'ien-tai school, the former being its founder in China. Nos. 1549 
and 1553 are Vien-tai commentaries on these two works, written 
about A.D. 1020 by Chi-li, (App. Ill 51). Evidently this 

sutra was of the greatest importance in the opinion of the pro- 
minent Vien-tai priests. 

As to the passages of the Konkwomyokyo and the Saishoo-kyd 
(I-tsing’s later translation) with regard to the rites of repentance 
■cf. below, Ch. VUl, §§ 7 and 15 (Kichijd-kekwa). The contents 
of the two versions of the sfifra and their further use in Japan 
are treated in Book II, Ch. XI. 

■§ 9. The Kongd-hannya-kyo (Vajracchedikd-prajnapdramitd-sutra, 

Nan jo No. 10. 

In A.D. 685 and 686, during the severe illness of the 
Emperor Temmu, who died A.D. 686, IX 9, several sutras 
were read for his recovery. 

A.D. 685, IX 24: “On account of the Emperor being unwell, 
sutras were read for three days in the Great Official Temple, 
) ' and in the Temples of Kawara and Asuka. 
Rice was accordingly given to these three temples, in amounts 
^varying in each case." 

The next month the Kongd-hannya-kyo, , was 

expounded in the Palace (apparently because the Emperor was 

) 

‘ Daikwan daiji, the old name of Daianji, the Sanron temple in Nara. 



Kongo-hannya-kyo. 


17 


ill). This is the first time this sufra is mentioned. ‘ In A.D. 402 
KumarajTva (App. II 59, cf. §§ 2, 5 and 7) translated this sutra, 
entitled Vajracchedika-prajnaparamita-sutra. This text was used 
in Japan. The numbers, titles, authors and dates of the six trans- 
lations of the same (or very similar) text (Nanjo Nos. 10 — 15) 
are as follows : 


No. 10 

1 

Kongo-hannya-haramitsu-kyo 

KumarajTva 

A.D. 402 

14 leaves 

No. 11 

M n M » 

Bodhiruci I 

A.D. 509 

17 leaves 

No. 12 

)j jr if n 

Paramartha 

A.D. 562 

17 leaves 

No. 15 

Kongo nodan idem idem 

Dharmagupta 

A.D. 605 

19 leaves 

No. 13 

Nodan (well-cutting) „ 

Hiien-tsang 

A.D. 648 

21 leaves 

No. 14, 

« If 

I-tsing 

A.D. 703 

14 leaves 


It is the ninth of the sixteen sutras of the Daihannyakyo, 
Mahaprajhaparamitd-sutra (Nanjo No. 1) (600 
fasciculi; translated A.D. 659 by Hiien-tsang), which in the seventh 
century is not yet mentioned. 

The great importance of this sutra is evident from the number 
and quality of its commentaries. 

No. 1167 is a commentary by Asahga (App. I 5), 

translated A.D. 590 — 616 by Dharmagupta (App. II 131). No. 1168 
is a commentary on No. 1167, written by Vasubandhu (;^ ^ 
or (App. I 6) and translated A.D. 509 by Bodhiruci I 

(App. II 114). No. 1192 (composed by Gunada (?), ^ 

App. I 18), was translated A.D. 683 by Divakara ( 0 ^^) (App. II 
139). No. 1208 (by Asanga) was translated in A.D. 711 by I-tsing 
(App. II 149), and in the same year this famous pilgrim gave a 
new translation of No. 1168, namely No. 1231. Chi-che ta-shi 
(cf. § 8, App. Ill 12, A.D. 531 — 597) orally explained this sutra, 

» 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 538; Aston II, p. 371 sq. 

2 




18 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and his disciple Kwan-ting (cf. §8, App. HI 15, A.D. 561 — 632) 
wrote down his words in No. 1550; thus the founder of the 
Tien-t‘ai school in China and his prominent pupil, both patriarchs 
of the school, attached great importance to this text. 

As to the Avatamsaka (Hwa-yen, Kegon) school, its fifth pa- 
triarch, Tsung-mih A.D. 779 — 840, App. Ill 38, respect- 
fully called Kwei-fan Ta-shi, il|^ “The Great Teacher 

of the Kwei peak”) wrote No. 1630 (an extract from a commentary 
on the Kongo-hannya-kyo), whereas TszS-siien ( App. HI 

53), who belonged to the same school, in A.D. 1024 gave a 
commentary on the preceding work (No. 1631). 

In A.D. 1377 T‘ai-tsu (1368 — 1398), the first Emperor of the 
Ming dynasty, caused all the Buddhist priests in China to study 
this sutra, as well as No. 20 and No. 175, the Prajhdparamitd- 
hrdaya sutra {Hannya shinkyo) and the Lahkavatara sutra-. and 
at the same time he called together the priests of the Dhyana 
{Zen) school to compile Nos. 1613 — 1615, as we learn from 
Nanjd with regard to those numbers. Thus No. 1615 is a Zen 
commentary on this sutra. 

The Bukkyo-daijii (1, p. 1441, 1) enumerates 27 Chinese com- 
mentaries on this sutra, and adds that in the Ts'ing dynasty 
(A.D. 1644 — 1911) more than twenty other commentators treated 
the same text! They are found in the Supplement of the Canon. 

As to the history of this sutra in Japan we may refer to Ch. 
XIII of the present work. 

§ 10. The Yakashikyo (Bhaisajyaguru-sutra, NanjS No. 171). 

In A.D. 686 (Y 24) “the Emperor Temmu’s body was ill at 
ease. Accordingly the Yakushikyo was expounded in the temple 
of Kawara, and a retreat iango, was held within the 

Palace”. ' 

The numbers, titles, translators and dates of translation of the 


* Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 541 ; Aston IF, p. 376. 



Yakushikyo. 


19 


Chinese versions of the two texts (on Yakushi Nyorai and on the 
Seven Healing Buddhas) are as follows: 


No. 167, 
XII 


Not in 
Canon 

No. 170 

No. 171 

• 

No. 172 

No. 173 






Hwui-kien 


|^|Dharmagupta 




I-tsing 


same title as j a copy of 

KT_ 1 rro ' ^ 

the Tibetan 
j version 


-3^ No. 172 


A.D. 
317-3221 


A.D. 457 I 

I 

A.D.6I5 
A.D. 650 


1 fasc. 

1 fasc. 

1 fasc. 
1 fasc. 


A.D. 707 2 fasc. 


1 fasc. 


The so-called Yakushikyo is Huen-tsang’s translation (No. 171, 
A.D. 650), used in Japan from A.D. 686 (V 24) in cases of illness, 
especially of the Emperor or Empress, but also against other 
calamities, e. g. to stop too abundant rains, because the Medicine- 
Master is the oriental sun with its healing power and its brilliant 
light, ' and at the Rites of Repentance in worship of Bhaishajya- 
guru, the Yakushi kekwa, dealt with below, Ch. VIII, § 14. 

The Shichi-Butsu Yakushikyo is I-tsing’s text, used at the 

' Cf. De Groot, Le Code du Maha^ana en Chine, Ch. vin, p. 157; 
my treatise on the Dragon in China and Japan, Introd. § 4, p. 33. 



20 


Ancient Buddhism in- Japan. 


Shichi-Butsu Yakushi-ho (^). This ceremony, celebrated with 
seven altars by the Tendai sect on Hieizan, was introduced by 
Dengyo Daishi in A-D. 805. ^ 

The Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1751, 3) mentions a translation of 
the older text, entitled Yakushi-RurikwO-kyo and made in A.D. 
457 by the priest Hwui-kien, , of the early Sung dynasty 

(App. II 84). It consists of one fasciculus; but it is not found in 
the Canon. Nanjo No. 305 (translated A.D. 424 by Kalayasas, 
deals with the contemplation of Yaku-o and Yaku-jd (^3Ej 
), the two Healing Bodhisattvas Bhaisajya-raja and Bhai- 
sajya-samudgata (cf. Butsiizo-zin, IV, p. 8b, Yaku-o seated cross- 
legged, with lotus flower in right hand; II, p. 9a, Yaku-o and 
Yaku-jo, standing upon lotus flowers, with banners in their hands, 
as two of the 25 Bodhisattvas in Amitabha’s retinue; 111, p. 10a, 
their suijaku "dropped traces” i. e. manifestations) as 

two of the 16 doji of Benzaiten). 

Nanjo No. 671, translated by Dharmaraksha I (between A.D. 
266 and 317, 8 leaves), is devoted to the Vaidurya-yi\ng{Ruri-o), 
and Nanjo No. 528, mentioned above, deals with the merits pro- 
duced by receiving and keeping in mind the names of the Seven 
Buddhas (A.D. 651, translated by Hiien-tsang, 6 leaves). 

The four Yoga works, translated by Vajrabodhi (between A.D. 
723 and 730), his disciple Amoghavajra (between A.D. 746 and 
771), an unknown translator, and the Tibetan priest Sha-lo-pa 
of the Yuen dynasty, who lived A.D. 1259 — 1314 (App. II, 170), 
which are mentioned by the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1751, 3), all 
kalpas igiki, ceremonial rules) on the meditation upon 

and worship of the Buddha Bhaishajyaguru and the Seven Healing 
Buddhas, in order to avert calamity, are not found in the Canon. 

' Bukkyo daijiten (henceforth quoted as Daijiten), p. 741, 2, s. v. Shichi- 
Butsu Yakashi-ho. The Bukkyo daijiten, ^ ^ , by Oda 

Tokuno, was published in 1919 (third ed.) by the 

Okura shoten in Tokyo. 



Yakushikyo and Kwanzeongyo. 


21 


The Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1752, 1) enumerates four commentaries 
on No. 171 (Hiien-tsang’s translation). The first of these works 
was written by Ts‘ze-ngan Ta-shi ( ^ ), the founder 

of the Fah-siang {Hosso) sect in China (i. e. Huen-tsang’s disciple 
Kw‘ei-ki, ^ who wrote a hundred commentaries, lived in 
the Ta-Ts‘ze-ngan-sze ^ ^), and was a devout wor- 

shipper of Maitreya (A.D. 632 — 682). The second commentary is 
a work written by Ta-hien ( :k ^), also a Fah-siang priest of 
the T'ang dynasty. The two other works were composed by the 
Japanese Hosso priest Zenshu, ^ (A.D. 723 — 797), and by 

the Japanese Shingon priest Ryota, (A.D. 1622—1680). 

The Bukkyo daijii (III, p. 4410, 1) mentions thirteen commentaries. 

As to the contents and further use of Hiien-tsang’s and 1-tsing’s 
translations (Nos. 171 and 172) we may refer the reader to Ch. VIII, 
§ 14 (Yakushi kekwa) and to Book 11, Ch. XIV. 

§ 11. The Kwanzeongyo (Fumonbon) (Avalokifesvara-sufra, 
Chapter 25 of the Chinese text of the Lotus Sutra, 

Nanjo No. 137). 

In A.D. 686 (VII 28) the Kwanzeon sutra was expounded in 
the Great Official Temple, and the Princes and Ministers made 
images of Kwannon, in order to save the Emperor Temmu’s life. 

VIII 1 : “For the sake of the Emperor, 80 priests were received 
into religion. 

VIII 2; “Priests and nuns, to the number of 100 in all, entered 
religion. Accordingly, 100 Bosatsu were set up within the Palace, 
and 200 volumes of the Kwannon sutra read”. 

These 100 Bosatsu probably were, as Aston remarks, the Kwannon 
images made by the Princes and Ministers. ' 

The Kwanzeongyo (^ ^ ^^) or Kwannongyd is the Kwan- 

zeon Bosatsu Fumonbon, generally called Fumonbon ( ^ 


' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 543; Aston 11, p. 379. 



22 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


“Chapter of the Universal Gate”, namely of salvation, opened 
by the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara), the 25th Chapter of the Hok- 
kekyd or Saddharma pundarTka sutra. ' It is Nanjo No. 137; the 
prose was translated in A.D. 406 by KumarajTva, the gathas 
A.D. 561’ — 578 by Jnanagupta (App. II 125, 129). It consists of 
7 leaves. 

Nos. 1555 and 1557 are T‘ien-tai commentaries on this chapter 
of the Lotus sutra, orally given by Chi-che Ta-shi, the founder 
of the T‘ien-t‘ai sect (A.D. 531 — 597) (cf. § 8), and recorded by 
his pupil Kwan-ting (cf. § 8) (A.D. 561 — 632); Nos. 1556 and 
1558 are commentaries on those works, written by Chi-li (cf. § 8), 
a T‘ien-t'ai priest of the beginning of the eleventh century. 

As to the contents and further use of this sutra cf. below, 
Ch. XV. 

§ 12. Sutras read to cause rain. 

In A.D. 642 (first year of the reign of the Empress Kogyoku 
(VII 25), at the time of a great drought, the Shinto rites of killing 
horses and cattle as a sacrifice to gods of various shrines and 
prayers to the River-gods, as well as the old Chinese custom 
of changing the market-places, had been without any result. Then 
Soga no Oho-omi (Emishi) said: “The Mahdyana sutras {Daijo 
kyoten, ) ought to be read (by way of extract) 

(tendoku) - in the temples, our sins repented of {kekwa, 
cf. below, Ch. VIII), as the Buddha teaches, and thus with humility 
rain should be prayed for.” 

VII 27. “In the South Court of the Great Temple (of Kudara, 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 338, 3, s. v. Kwannongyo. 

^ The term tendoku may be used here not in its later sense, but simply 
for “reading” {yomi-matsuru is the kana pronunciation given in the 
Kokushi taikei). As to the two meanings of this term cf. Daijiten, p. 1255, 
3, s. V. tendoku, and p. 1253, 3, s. v. ten-daihannyakyd, where the partial 
reading of that text is said to be based upon a passage of the Susid- 
dhikdra sutra, Nanjo No. 533, translated in A. D. 724 by Subhakarasirpha. 
If that passage caused the practise of partial reading in general, before 
that time tendoku simply meant ^reading” (turning the pages and reading). 



Sutras read to cause rain. 


23 


built in A.D. 639 Vli) the images of Buddha and of the Bosatsu 
(Fugen and Monju, i.e. Samantabhadra and Manjusrt) and the 
images of the Four Deva Kings (the Guardians of the World) 
were magnificently adorned. A multitude of priests, by respectful 
request, read the Mahayana sutras. On this occasion Soga no 
Oho-omi held a censer in his hands, and having burnt incense 
in it, offered a prayer.” 

VII 28. “A slight rain fell.” 

VII 29. “The prayers for rain being unsuccessful, the reading 
of the sutras was discontinued.” 


VllI 1. “The Empress made a progress to the river-source of 
Minabuchi, Here she knelt down and prayed, worshipping towards 
the four quarters, and looking up to Heaven (the Chinese style). 
Straightway there was thunder and a great rain, which eventually 
fell for five days, and plentifully bedewed the Empire. Hereupon 
the peasantry throughout the Empire cried with one voice ‘Banzai’ 
and said : ‘An Empress of exceeding virtue !’ ” ' 

Aston translates the term Daijo kyoten as if it were one special 
Sutra; but it is a collective term for the canon, which is also 


evident from the fact that on the 27th day the priests were 
requested to read “the Mahayana sutras”, Daijo kyoto, ■Am 
The Fuso ryakki- does not mention the texts, but simply 
speaks about rain prayers in the Shinto and Buddhist shrines. 
The Nihon kiryaku * states that there was tendoku of the Daijokyo. 
The author of the Genko Shakusho, ^ however, says that the 


' Nihongi, Ch. XXiv, p. 410; Aston II, p. 175. 

* FusO ryakki, ^ “An abridged History of Japan”, 

written about A. D. 1 150 by the Tendai priest Kw5-en, JJ] , Genku’s 
teacher. Kokushi Taikei Vol. vi, Ch. iv, p. 508. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, B “An abridged History of japan", 

written after A.D. 1036. K. T. K. Vol. v, Zempen, Ch. vii, p. 176. 

^ Genko Shakusho, /[J ^ “A Buddhist writing of the Genk5 

era” (A.D. 1331 — 1334), written by the Rinzai priest Shiren (j^lp 
A. D. 1278 — 1346). K. T. K. Vol. xiv, Ch. xx, p. 988. 



24 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


priests were ordered to read the Daiunkyo, ^ ^ the Mahd- 
megha-sutra or “Sutra of the Great Cloud”. 

According to the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1125, 3, s. v. Daiunkyo) 
this is another name for Nanjo No. 244, the ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
Daihodo-muso-kyo, Mahavaipulya-mahamegha-sutra, translated A.D. 
414 — 423 by Dharmaraksha II of the Northern Liang dynasty 
(App. II 67) (4 fasc.). It is different from the well-known Maha- 
megha-sutra (Nanjo Nos. 186 — 188, 970), so often used in later 
times to cause rain. The four translations of the latter text are 
as follows : 


No. 187 


Jnanayasas 

II 123 

564-572 

1 fasc. 


® + 

IS w « 




No. 188 

if PH 

Narendrayasas 

11 128 

582-585 

2 fasc. 

No. 186 

SIf PH ^ 

Jnanagupta 

II 129 

585-592 

1 fasc. 

No. 970 

S ^ if M IS 

Amoghavajra 

II 155 

746-77 1 ^ 

1 

2 fasc. 


No. 187 was translated by Jnanayasas, not by his pupil Jnanagupta, 
to whom by mistake it is attributed by NanjQ (p. 58) (cf. App. 
II 123). As to this sutra we may refer the reader to Prof, de 
Groot’s Code du Mahdyana en Chine, ' and to the present writer’s 
Dragon in China and Japan. “ 

' De Groot, Le Code du Mahaypna en Chine, Ch. vill, pp. 148 sqq. 

2 De Visser, The Dragon in China and Japan, Introd. § 4, pp. 25 sqq., 
and Ch. in, §§ 3 and 4, pp. 159 sqq. 





Sutras read to cause rain. 


25 


As the Nihongi does not mention the Daiunkyd, we do not 
follow the text quoted by the author of the Genko-Shakusho, al- 
though it is quite probable that the Daiunkyd belonged to the 
sutras, used in A.D. 642 to cause rain. As a specimen of the 
reliability of the Genkd Shaktisho we cite its statement that the 
holy man, met by Shotoku Taishi in A.D. 613 (XII 1), ' was 
Bodhidharma! The story of the empty tomb was, of course, 
the link between those two miraculous sages. - 

In A.D. 676 (fifth year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign) (VI), 
when great drought prevailed, no sutras were read, but “the priests 
and nuns were invited to offer supplications to the Triratna”. 
Messengers were sent to all quarters to make offerings of cloth 
and to pray to all the gods of Heaven and Earth; but it v/as 
all Jn vain, for “still there was no rain, and therefore the five 
grains did not grow, and the peasants were starving.” The next 
month (VII 16) “worship was paid to the Wind-gods of Tatsuta 
and to the Oho-imi Deity of Hirose” (probably for the same reason). 
It may also be that the Great Purification, the mitigation of punish- 
ments or pardon of criminals, and the Emperor’s command to 
the various provinces to let loose living things {hdjd, cf. § 7, 
a Buddhist virtuous action) (VIll 16 and 17) were intended to 
put an end to the drought.® 

In A.D. 677 (V) Shinto prayers were made for rain in the 
capital and the Home provinces (^ amagoi su), and in the 
seventh month (VII 3) again “worship was paid to the Wind- 
gods of Tatsuta and to the Oho-imi Deity of Hirose") in A.D. 679 
(V 23, VII 6, 14), 680 (VII 5), 683 (VII 15,20), 684 (VI 4, VII 4, 9), 
686 (VI 12), 688 (VII 11), 690 (IV 22), 692 (VI 9, 1 1, VII 2), 693 
(IV 17), 695 (VI 3) and 697 (V 8) Shinto rain prayers were offered 
by Imperial Envoys in many shrines, but especially in those of 
Tatsuta and Hirose) also celebrated mountains, hills and rivers 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 388; Aston II, p. 145. 

* Cf. Bodhidharma’s biography, Giles, Biogr. Diet. s. v. Bodhidharma. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, pp. 510 sq.; Aston II, pp. 332 sqq. 



26 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


were prayed to for rain (A.D. 692, VI 9). For the same purpose 
a general amnesty was repeatedly granted throughout the Empire 
(A.D. 683, VIII 5; 691, V 20; 692, VII 2; 697, VI 2). As to Buddhist 
prayers for rain, the Korean priest Dozo from Kudara 

was very successful in this respect(A.D. 683, VII 20; 688, VII 20), ‘ 
but otherwise the Shinto gods were evidently considered to be 
more powerful givers of rain than the Triratna. 

§ 13. Sutras read to stop rain. 

In A.D. 691 (VI 19) the Empress Jito issued the following edict. 
“This summer profuse rain has fallen beyond measure, and We 
fear that certainly injury will be caused to the grain-crops. Our 
anxiety of the night lasts until the morning, as We ponder where 
the blame for this lies. Now We command you, our Ministers 
and functionaries, to prohibit the use of strong drink and animal 
food, to compose your hearts and repent your sins. Moreover 
let the priests of the temples of the capital and of the Home 
provinces read the sutras for a space of five days. It may be 
hoped that this will have some effect.” The rain had lasted from 
the fourth month until this month. The next day “a general 
amnesty was proclaimed throughout the Empire. Thieves and 
robbers were, however, excepted”. This measure was often taken 
in order to avert some calamity or evil omen. ^ 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 530; Ch. xxx, p. 549; Aston II, pp. 360, 388. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 559; Aston II, p. 403. 



CHAPTER II. 


MAIGRE ENTERTAINMENTS OF MONKS AND NUNS 
(SESSAI, 13;^, SAI WO MOKURU, SAI-E, ^ 

§ 1. The Emperor Bidatsu’s reign (A.D. 572 — 585). 

In A.D. 584 (13th year of Bidatsu Tenno’s reign, IX) “Soga 
no Mumako no Sukune erected a Buddhist temple on the east 
sida of his dwelling, in which he enshrined the sfone image of 
Miroku (Maitreya) (in the same month this image and that of 
Buddha had been brought from Kudara, one of the kingdoms of 
Korea). “He respectfully invited the three nuns and in a great 
meeting arranged (for them) a maigre entertainment”. ' “At this 
time Shiba Tatto found a Buddhist relic {shari, ^ ^Ij, sarTra) 
on the food of abstinence, and presented it to Mumako no Sukune. 
Mumako no Sukune, by way of experiment, took the relic, and 
placing it in the middle of a block of iron, beat it with an iron 
sledge-hammer, which he flourished aloft. The block and the 
sledge-hammer were shattered to atoms, but the relic could not 
be crushed. Then the relic was cast into water, when it floated 
on the water or sank as one desired. In consequence of this, 
Mumako no Sukune, Ikenobe no Hida, and Shiba Tatto had faith 
in Buddhism and practised it unremittingly. Mumako no Sukune 
built another Buddhist temple at his house in Ishikawm. From 
this arose the beginning of Buddhism.” 

' Nihongi, Ch. xx, p. 358; Aston II, p. 101. I do not agree with Aston’s 
translation: “He insisted on the thre^ nuns holding a general meeting 
to partake of maigre fare”, for the nuns were invited, and he himself 
gave the entertainment in a great meeting. 



28 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


A.D. 585 (II 15): “Soga no Oho-omi, Mumako no Sukune, 
erected a pagoda north of the Hill of Ohono, and having held 
a great meeting to partake of maigre food, deposited the relic 
obtained by Tatto on the top of the pillar of the pagoda”. ^ 

§ 2. The Empress Suiko’s reign (A.D. 593 — 628). 

A.D. 605 (13th year of the Empress Suiko's reign) (IV 1). “The 
Empress commanded the Prince Imperial, the Oho-omi, and also 
the Princes and Ministers, all to make a vow together, and there- 
withal to begin to make copper and emhvci\6.try images of Buddha, 
sixteen feet high, one of each. She also commanded Kuratsukuri 
no Tori to be the engineer for the construction of the Buddhas. 
At this time King Te-hung of Koryo (Korai, Koma, one of the 
kingdoms of Korea), hearing that the Empress was making images 
of Buddha, sent tribute of 300 ryo of the yellow metal”. - 

A.D. 606 (IV 8). “Both the sixteen-foot images of Buddha, viz. 
that of copper and that of embroidery, were finished, and on the 
same day the sixteen-foot copper image was enshrined in the 
Golden Hall of Gwangoji (^^^, i. e. Hokoji, ^ 
Asuka-dera, ^ and Homanji built A.D. 

593 — 596 by Soga no Mumako. ^ ... . On the same day a maigre 
entertainment was given, at which an innumerable multitude as- 
sembled”. 

“Beginning with this year, vegetarian festivals were held in all 
the temples on the 8th day of the 4th month (Buddha’s birthday) 
and on the 15th day of the 7th month (the Avalambana festival of 
the dead). ^ 

As we saw above (Ch. 1, § 2), in the same year (A.D. 606) Shotoku 

' Nihongi, ibidem. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 380; Aston II, pp. 133 sq. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxii, pp. 372 sq.; Aston II, pp. 120 sq., 124. Cf. Daijiten, 
p. 21, s. V. Gwangoji-. On the tablqt of the Eastern gate stood Asu/ca-dera ; 
on that of the W. gate Hokoji-, S. gate Gwangoji; N. gate Homanji. 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxii, pp. 380 sq.; Aston II, p. 134. 



Maigre entertainments. 


29 


Taishi, by the Empress Suiko’s request, for the first time lectured 
on sutras, the Shomangyo and the Hokkekyo. 

As to the term ^ this is read ogami su or mi-ogami su, 
indicating that by giving such an entertainment to the monks or 
nuns the Emperor or Empress worshipped the Truaina. 
is read oi ni ogami su, and ^ ^ ^ oho-atsiimari (dai-e) 

no ogami su, “worship of (i.e. consisting of) a great meeting was 
made” (by the Emperor, Empress or, as in the beginning, the 
Prime-Minister). 

§ 3. The Empress Jomei’s reign (A.D. 629 — 641). 

A.D. 640 ( 12 th year of the Emperor Jomei’s reign) (V 5). “A 
great Buddhist maigre entertainment was given, at which by 
request (of the Emperor) the priest Eon expounded the Muryojukyo 
(the large Amitayus sutra, mentioned above, § 3). ' 

§ 4, The Emperor Kotoku's reign (A.D. 645 — 654). 

A.D. 647 (third year of the Emperor Kotoku’s reign, Taikwa 3) 
(XII 30) we read about the caps of seven kinds and thirteen 
grades, instituted in that year. “These caps were worn at Grand 
Assemblies, when foreign guests were entertained, and at the 
maigre feasts (^) of the fourth month {IV 8) and seventh month 
(VII 15) (Buddha’s birthday and the Urabon, i.e. Avalambana, festival 
of the dead, instituted in A.D. 606).” “ 

A.D. 651 (7th year of the Emperor Kotoku’s reign, Hakuchi 2) 
(III 14). “The sixteen feet high embroidery figure of Buddha 
and the others (i.e. his attending Bodhisattvas Monju and Fugen, 
and the beings of the eight classes, namely Devas, Nagas, Yakshas, 
Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras and Mahoragas, 46 figures 
in all) were finished. The next day the Empress Dowager invited 

‘ Nihongi, Ch. xxiii, p. 406; Aston II,* p. 169. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 446; Aston II, p. 230. 



30 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the “Ten Masters” (-t ten prominent priests, appointed A.D. 
645, VIII 8) * and prepared a maigre entertainment for them”. 

A.D. 652 (XII 30), The priests and nuns of the Empire were 
invited to the interior of the Palace and entertained with meagre 
fare. Plentiful alms were given, and lights kindled ^ 

Although the text gives ^ instead of this festival certainly 
took place on the last day of the year, for on the same day of 
the preceding year the new Palace was consecrated by a similar 
meeting of more than 2100 priests and nuns, who read the whole 
canon {Issaikyo) and other texts {Antaku and Dosoku sutras), 
and over 2700 lights were lit in the courtyard of the Palace 
(above, Ch. I § 4). Only a maigre entertainment was not men- 
tioned in that passage. 

§ 5. The Emperor Temmu's reign (A.D. 672 — 686). 

A.D. 677 (sixth year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign) (Vlll 15). 

“A great feast of Buddhist fare (^ ^) was given at the 

Asuka Temple, at which the Issaikyo was read. The Emperor 
stood at the South Gate of the Temple, and did obeisance to 
the Triratna. At this time he commanded the Princes of the Blood 
and the other Princes as well as the Ministers each to furnish 
one person to renounce the world. These persons were chosen 
without distinction of age and sex, and all entered religion in 
accordance with their wishes. They therefore took part in this 
great feast, ^ 

A,D. 681 (tenth year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign) (Inter- 
calary VII, 15), “In fulfilment of a vow of the Empress-consort 
a great feast of vegetable fare was given, and the sutras were 
expounded in all the temples of the capital”, ® VII 15 was the 

‘ Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 429; Aston II, p. 203. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 452; Aston II, p. 240. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 453; Aston II, p. 242. 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 513; A^(on II, p. 337. 

® Nihongi, Ch, xxix, p. 523; Aston II, p. 352, 



Maigre entertainments. 


31 


date of the Avalambana festival; probably it was held this year 
in the intercalary seventh month. 

A.D. 684 (13th year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign) (IV 16). 
“A vegetarian feast was prepared within the Palace, A pardon 
was accordingly given to the Toneri who had been guilty of 
offences”. ' 

A.D. 686 (last year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign) (VI 19). 
During the Emperor Temmu’s illness (he died in the same year, 
IX 9) many Buddhist rites were performed in order to cause 
his recovery. “Public functionaries were sent to the 
Temple of Kawara to light lanterns and offer them 
up (to the Buddha or theTriratna) (‘j^ nento kayo). 

So there was a ceremony of repentance for sin, 
consisting of a great vegetarian (purificatory) feast 

daisai no kekwa). The next month 
(VII 28) “seventy persons of pure conduct were selected to retire 
from the world. A feast of vegetable food was provided in the 
Palace in front of the Emperor’s muro residence 
Mi-muro-in)” . 

§ 6. The Empress Jito’s reign (A.D. 687 — 697). 

In A.D. 690 (fourth year of the Empress Jito’s reign, II 19) 
“A feast of vegetarian food was given within the inner precinct 
(of the Palace)”. ® 

We learn from the above passages that in the seventh century 
vegetarian entertainments were given to the priests and nuns at 
the dedication of images; from A.D. 606 on Buddha's 
birthday (IV 8) and at the Avalambana festival of the 
dead (VII 15); at the reading and expounding of special sutras 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 533; Aston II, p. 364. 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 542; Aston II, pp. 377, 379. With regard to 
the ditterence of our translation of the former passage from that of 
Mr. Aston cf. below, Ch. vil, § 2. , 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 554; Aston II, p. 397. 



32 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(A.D. 640) or of the whole canon (A.D. 677); on the last day 
of the year (A.D. 651); in fulfilment of vows (A.D. 681); and 
fo cause the Emperor’s recovery from a severe illness (A.D. 686), 
In the last case it was accompanied by offerings of lanterns (also 
in A.D. 652) and food and by rites of repentance {kekwd). Some- 
times such feasts of vegetable fare were given in the Palace 
only to worship the Triratna, without any special reason (A.D. 
684, 690) beyond the wish to perform a virtuous action for the 
benefit of the Emperor and the country. 

§ 7. Maigre entertainments in the eighth century. 

In A.D. 702 (XU 22) the Empress Jito died; three days later 
her grandson Mommu Tenno on behalf of her soul gave vege- 
tarian entertainments in the Four Great Temples ofNara, Yakushiji 
and Kofakuji (Hosso), Gwangoji and Daianji {Sanron). ’ This 
was repeated on I 5 of A.D. 703, the second seventh day after 
her death; and on the 7 X 7th day (II 11) messengers were sent 
to those four temples, to Shitennoji, Yamada-dera and to many 
other Buddhist sanctuaries, 33 in all, in order to arrange maigre 
entertainments. 

In the same way after Mommu Tenno's death (A.D. 707, VI 15) 
the Empress Gemmei, his mother, on each of the seven seventh 
days, specially devoted to the services for his soul, gave sai in 
the Four Great Temples of Nara. ® 

In A.D. 715 (VI 13), shortly before her abdication in favour 
of her daughter Gensho Tenno, she tried to avert the prevailing 
drought and to cause rain by vegetarian entertainments in 
Gufukuji ( the former Kawara-dera, from A.D. 818 a 

Shingon shrine) and Hdryuji {Hosso). At the same time she sent 
gohei to the Shinto shrines, in order to pray for rain to the gods 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. ii, p. 25. 

. 2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. iii, pp. 35 sq. 

® Shoku Nihongi, Ch. ni, p. 46. 



Maigre entertainments {8th cent.). 


33 


of famous mountains and great rivers. After a few days a sea- 
sonable rain came down, much to the admiration of the people, 
who ascribed this blessing to the holy virtue of the Empress. 
She rewarded the officials by giving them higher salaries according 
to their ranks. ' 

In A.D. 722 (XI 19) the Empress Gensho issued an ordinance 
about the copying of the Kegonkyd (80 kwan), Daishukyo (60 kwan), 
Nehangyo (40 kwan), Daibosatsuzokyo (20 kwan) and Kwanzeongyo 
(200 kwan) ~ and the making of 8 baptismal flags, a thousand 
altar flags, 36 lacquer tables, covered with ivory, 168 copper 
bowls, and 82 boxes of willow wood. All these offerings were 
made on behalf of her mother’s soul, because the latter had died 
a year before (A.D. 721, XII 7). On the anniversary of her death 
from all the Buddhist temples of the Capital and the Home pro- 
vinces monks and nuns were invited, 2638 persons in all, and 
entertained with meagre fare. ® 

In A.D. 735 (Tempyo 7, X 5) Prince Nittabe, one of Temmu 
Tennd’s sons, had died (IX 30). The Emperor Shdmu by Imperial 
Ordinance fixed the constant rule that if an Imperial Prince died, 
a hundred priests had to be entertained on the seven seventh 
days after his death ^ , shichi-shichi-sai). * 

In A.D. 751 (Tempyo Shoho 3, X 23) the Empress Ksken, 
who in A.D. 749 (VII 2) had succeeded her father Shomu after 
the latter’s abdication, requested 49 (7 X 7) sage Buddhist priests 
to perform for seven days a "life-continuing service” ( 

Z^) in Shin-Yakushiji (Hosso), accompanied by vegetarian 
meals, in order to restore the health of her father who was in- 
disposed, and to lengthen his life. At the same time she gave a 
partial great amnesty to the Empire. ® 

In A.D. 752 (Tempyo Shoho 4, IV 9), when the Daihatsu of 

' Shoku Nihongt, Ch. Vt, p. 92. 

2 Cf. below, Book II, Ch. xv, § 1. 

3 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. ix, p. 141. 

Shoku Nihongi, Ch. Xii, p, 200. a 

s Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvm, p. 298. 


3 



34 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Nara, Locana’s large image, had been completed, the ceremony 
of “opening its e 3 'es’' (kaigen) took place in Todaiji in the presence 
of the Empress and all the civil and military officials. This was 
a great festival with music and dances and with a sessai dai-e 
(^^^i^)of ten thousand priests, the largest enter- 
tainment of this kind ever given. ' 

In A.D. 756 (Tempyo Shoho 8, V 2) the Dajo Tenno Shomu 
died. Sutra reading took place in the Seven Great Temples 
of Nara, i. e. Todaiji (Kegon), Daianji (Sanron), Kofukuji {Hossd), 
Gwangoji (Sanron), Yakushiji (Hossd), Horyuji (Hosso) and Shin 
Yakushiji (Hossd) (afterwards Saidaiji, founded in A.D. 765, 
was substituted for Shin-Yakiishiji) on the two first seventh days, 
and in all the Buddhist temples of the capital on the third seventh 
day. It is not mentioned what took place on the fourth seventh 
day, but on the fifth more than a thousand priests and srama- 
neras (shami) were entertained in Daianji, on the sixth sessai 
took place in Yakushiji, and on the seventh more than 1100 priests 
and srdmaneras had a vegetarian meal in Kdfukuji. Further, the 
Empress Kbken stated by Ordinance that the kokki gosai ( g 
) or “Imperial Vegetarian Meal of National Mourning’' 
(on the anniversary of Shomu Tenno’s death, V 2 of the next 
year) should be given in Todaiji and that it ought to take place 
in the Daibutsuden, the corridor of which had to be built without 
delay at the expense of the provinces of the six departments 
(dd). Actually more than 1500 monks were entertained on that 
day in Todaiji. ^ 

In the same year (A.D. 757, VII 24) sessai was performed in 
the Palace, and the Ninnokyd was expounded. ® In an ordinance 
of VIII 18 the Empress spoke about V 8 as the last day of the 
sessai and kekwa for the Dajd Tenno’ s shuki (^ lit. “com- 
plete abstinence”) ; this indicates its having lasted seven days, V 2-8. 

‘ Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvui, p. 299. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xix, pp. 3JA sqq.; Ch. xx, p. 322. 

® Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 334. 



Maigre entertainments {8th cent.). 


35 


Similarly in A.D. 760 (Tempyo hoji 4, Vll 26), on the 49th 
day after the death of the Empress-Dowager, Kwomyoko, ShDmu’s 
consort and Koken’s mother, sessai took place in Todaiji and in 
all the small temples of the capital. Moreover, in all provinces 
of the Empire a picture of the Amida-jodo (Amitabha’s Paradise, 
SukhavatT) was made and the monks and nuns of each province 
had to copy the Shosan-jodo-kyo (Hiien-tsang’s translation, made 
in A.D. 650, of the Sukhavati-vyuha, Nanjo No. 199). These 
pictures and sutras had to be respectfully offered up in the Ko- 
kubun konkwomydji, the Provincial State Monastery of every pro- 
vince. ‘ The next year (A.D. 761, VI 7) her shuki no sat was 
held in the Amida-jodo-in, situated in the S.W. angle of the 
compound of the nunnery Hokkeji (the sokokubun-niji or “General 
Provincial State nunnery”), and specially erected for this purpose. 
On fhis occasion alt provinces had an image of Amida made, 
sixteen feet high, and images of his two attendant Bodhisattvas 
Kwannon and Seishi, to be placed in the Kokubim-niji or Pro- 
vincial Nunnery of every province. The next day the Emperor 
Junnin ordered a yearly expounding of the Bommdkyd {^^ 
{Brahmajala-sutra, Nanjo No. 1087, cf. below, Ch. XV, § 1) in 
Yamashina-dera {Kofukuji) {Hosso) in Nara, on the anniversary 
of the death of the Empress Dowager, and for the expenses of 
this yearly ceremony he presented to that temple 30 cho (IBJ) 
of rice-land to the South of the Capital. Further he gave ten 
cbd of rice-land to Hokkeji and fixed the rule, that yearly for 
seven days, beginning with the anniversary of her death, worship 
should there be paid to Amida Butsu by ten priests, invited for 
this purpose to the nunnery. - 

In A.D. 767 (Jingo keiun 1, VIII 8) the Empress Shbtoku (iden- 
tical with Koken) invited 600 priests to a vegetarian dinner in 
the Shinden of the “Western Palace”, because a lucky omen 
(the felicitous or holy cloud after which the new era was called) 

■ Ibid., Ch. XXIII, p. 384. * 

2 Ibid., Ch, xxm, p. 391. 



36 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

had appeared in Mikawa province, much to the delight of priests 
and laymen. ‘ 

In A.D. 771 (Hoki 2, V 29) the Emperor Konin (Shirakabe no 
Oji), who two years before, on ascending the throne, had bestowed 
the title of Tawara Tenno or Kasuga no Miya no Tenno upon 
his deceased father Shiki no Oji (tA.D. 716), 

Tenchi Tenno’s fourth son, who had had a very influential po- 
sition under the reigns of Jito and Mommu Tenno, instituted the 
kisai or “mourning entertainment” of the anniversary of his 
father's death (VIII 9). 

On VIII 4 the kisai of Takano Tenno (i. e. the Empress Sho- 
toku, who had died A.D. 770, VIII 4) took place in Saidaiji 
(originally a Hosso, afterwards a Kairitsu sanctuary, erected in 
A.D. 765 by the Hosso priest Jbtb, “ 

In A.D. 773 (Hoki 4, VIII 4), on the third anniversary of' her 
death, at the shuki gosai-e divers offerings 

were made by the Emperor Konin to 269 nuns and girls, and 
to 1049 men of all kinds. * Towards the end of the same year 
(XII 25) he issued on ordinance stating that the increase of “fields 
of felicity” {fukuden, jjjg {]g , punyaksetra) depended on the vast 
salvation brought by Sakyamuni’s doctrine, and that the glory of 
the dynasty was due to the divine power of great compassion. 
Therefore according to the Yakushikyo he invited sage priests 
in order to entertain them with meagre fare and cause them to 
perform circumambulations (around Yakushi's image) {sessai 
gyodo). * 

The Emperor Kwammu, Konin Tenno’s son (A.D. 781, IV 1 — 
his death, 806, III 17) in A.D. 781 (Ten-o 1, XII 29), a week 
after his father’s death, ordered that on the first seventh day 
sutras should be read in the Seven Great Temples, and on the 

' Ibid., Ch. xxvjii, p. 478. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XXXI, pp. 546, 548. 

^ Ibid., Ch. xxxii, p. 571. 

* Ibid., Ch. xxxii, p. 572. 



Maigre entertainments {8tti cent.). 


37 


six further seventh days in all temples of the capital. Moreover, 
on the 49 th day in all provinces the monks and nuns of the 
kokubun-niji ' (the provincincial monasteries and nunneries) had 
to be entertained (sai wo mbkete) for the benefit of the deceased 
Emperor’s sou! {tsuifuku, jj^). The next year (A.D. 782, 
XII 23) his shuki no mi (or go) sai was celebrated with siitra 
reading in all the kokubun niji (the Saishookyo and the Hokkekyo 
being the main sutras of these provincial monasteries and nunne- 
ries). - Similar services were held in all provinces when the 
Empress Dowager, his mother, died in A.D. 789, XII 28; her 
shuki no gosaie took place in Doianji (Sanron). ^ In A.D. 791 
(V 28 and VI 3) a large number of persons of divers standing, 
who had made offerings for the celebration of shuki no sale of 
the Empress Dowager and the Empress (who had died the year 
befcfre, Interc. Ill 10, but whose post-mortem services are not 
mentioned in the annals; evidently those celebrated for the souls 
of the parents of the reigning Emperor were considered to be 
more important) were rewarded with divers ranks of nobility: 
those belonging to the superior sixth and higher Court ranks 
gave them to their sons; others obtained various emoluments.^ 

In A.D. 804 (Enryaku 23, V 17) the Emperor Kwammu speaks 
about the Shogwatsu sai-e, “The Vegetarian Festival of the First 
Month”. This was the Gosaie or Misaie, also called Saisho-e or 
Konkwomyd-e, celebrated in the Daigokuden of the Palace, 18 — 14 
(A.D. 802 — 1467), the great Palace festival for protection of the 
State, to be dealt with below (Ch. XVI, § 6, § 8). Although it 
was specially devoted to the Saishookyo (I-tsing’s translation of 
the Savarna-prabhasa sutra, Nan jo No. 126), its name Gosaie 

' Kokubun-niji, jZL. the two kinds of provincial sanctuaries, esta- 
blished in A. D. 741, namely the kokubunji and the kokubun-niji 
nunneries). 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxxvi, p. 671; Ch. xxxvn, p. 682. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XL, pp. 756, 768. ■* 

Ibid., Ch. XL, p. 774. 



38 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


indicates its character of vegetarian entertainment of the offici- 
ating priests in the Imperial Palace. ’ 

In A.D. 806 (Enryaku 25, II 23), when Kwammu Tenno was 
very ill and all measures were taken to save his life, not only 
a picture of Yakushi Nyorai and the Hokkekyo were copied, but 
also 31 priests were invited to a maigre entertainment in the 
Zenden of the Palace; the officials made offerings for this cere- 
mony. “ A month later (111 17) the Emperor died, 70 years of 
age, and the shosfiichisai or "First seventh day’s 

vegetarian entertainment” took place in all the Buddhist temples 
of the capital. On IV 7 he was buried in the Kashiwabara Mau- 
soleum in Kii district, Yamashiro province, where his third shichi- 
sai was held the next day. The fourth of these ceremonies was 
performed in the Sanron shrine Sufiikuji >• e- the 

Maitreya Buddha sanctuary Shiga-dera in Shiga district, 'Omi 
province, one of the Twelve Great Temples honoured by Kbnin 
Tenno in A.D. 771 (Hoki 2, VIII 26) ; the fifth in Daianji {Sanron) 
and Akishino-dera {^^ ^), a Hosso (later Shingon) shrine, 
dedicated to Yakushi Nyorai, at the village of that name in 
Yamato province, founded in A.D. 780 by the //osso priest Zenshu 
(^^) (A.D. 723 — 797).'* The sixth of the seven sai took 
place in Sufukuji, and the seventh in the Shinden ( ^ ^ ) of 
the Palace. ’ On VII i a superintendent was appointed for the 
Shuki-misaie of the next year (III 17). 

On examining the above passages we see that in the eighth 
century by far the majority of public maigre entertainments of 

' Nihon koki, Ch. xii, p. 36. 

2 Nihon koki, Ch. xiii, p. 61. 

3 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxxr, p. 548; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiii, p. 1031. 

As the Sanron priest Gyohyo A. D. 722 — 797) was jishu of 

Sufukuji, it must have belonged to this sect, cf. 'Washio p. 211, 2. 

“* 'Washio, p. 709, 1, s. v. Zenshu; Daijifen p. 11, 2, s. v. Akishino-dera-, 
Yoshida TogS, I, p. 213, 2, s. v. Akishinu-dera-, Daijii, I, p. 11, 3, s. v. 
Akishino-dera. 

® Nihon koki, Ch. xiii, pp. 62—68. 



Maigre entertainments {8th cent.). 


monks and nuns were given on behalf of the souls 
deceased Emperors or Empresses or other members 
the Imperial House, not only on the seven seventh days following 
their death but also on the anniversaries of their decease, espe- 
cially on the first. They took place in the great temples of Nara, 
belonging to the Sanron, Hosso and Kegon sects, and sometimes 
also in other shrines, and in the Palace; in A.D. 757 the shUki 
sessai in the Palace lasted seven days. The Emperor Kwamnra 
began to extend them to the provincial state monasteries and! 
nunneries (A.D. 781, 782, 789); persons of various standing coadd 
make offerings for the celebration of the shuki no sate and wrere 
rewarded with ranks or salaries. 

Other causes why such vegetarian meals were arranged were 
drought (A.D. 715), illness of the Em peror or of the 
retfred monarch (A.D. 751, 806), a great dedicatory 
ceremony like the opening of the eyes of the Great Buddha 
Locana of Tddaiji (A.D. 752, 10000 priests), and a lucky omen 
(A.D. 767). More important than all these ceremonies, however, 
was the Gosaie or Misaie of the first month (1 8 — 14), celebrated 
in the Daigokiiden of the Palace from A.D. 802 to 1467 as a 
New-year’s festival for the protection of the State. 

§ 8. Maigre entertainments in the ninth century. 

In A.D. 806 (Daido 1, VI 11), after Kwamnm Tenno’s death, ai 
curious petition to the Throne was made by the RissM (“Vinayai 
Master”) Eichu (:^<..i^) (A.D. 714 — 788). This priest, wtose 
sect is not known, had stayed in China for 30 years and retnnmed 
to Japan towards the end of Kwammu Tenno’s reign. As this 
Emperor had appointed him abbot of the HossO temple B&nsfmka^ 
^ in Orai province, Shiga district, founded tnEniymkn5 
(A.D. 786) in consequence of the Emperor’s vow, he probably 
belonged to the Hosso sect. ‘ 

I* 

‘ Washio, p. 66, 1, s. v. Eichu; Yoshida T5g0, 1, p. 482, 2,s,v. 


s. s. 



40 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


This priest addressed the new Emperor Heijo (A.D. 806 — 810) 
■with the toUowing petition. He had seen, he said, that the food 
for the public and private sai-e, prepared beforehand, was 
sometimes spoiled by excessive heat, sometimes frozen by severe 
cold. From far and near people came in haste to spend their 
substance most lavishly (as offerings to the clergy), but 
the drink and food were coarse and bad and unpalatable. The 
original intention of these sai-e was to invite felicity, but 
in this way on the contrary they evoked blame and disgust. Now 
he humbly requested that henceforth, wholly based upon the 
original intent, the distribution of food might take place in an 
equal way, with equanimity {byodd, upeksa) of the donors and 
moderation of the recipients. Further, the original meaning of 
the Buddhist Law was that on the days of the vegetarian enter- 
tainments the belief (in their blessing power) had to be deep 
and sincere, and that there necessarily ought to be abundance 
of drink and food instead of an insufficient quantity. He also 
requested the Emperor to proclaim this to the Empire and made 
it known to the people. His request was granted. ' 

This interesting passage shows that there were also private 
sai-e, and that large offerings were made to the priests and nuns at 
both public and private sai-e, but that the money spent by the 
donors was often wrongly used by giving bad drink and food 
to those entertained. Probably the public sai-e, mentioned in this 
petition, were those of the provincial state monasteries and nunne- 
ries, the kokubun-niji. 

In the first half of the ninth century we rarely meet the word 
sai-e in the Annals; as to the Gosaie of the Daigokuden in the 
Palace (I 8 — 14), in those days this festival was called Saishookyoko, 
“Expounding of the Saishookyo”, e. g. in A.D. 813 (Konin 4), 
when eleven priests of great learning held a discussion {rongi, 
the so-called Uchi-rongi, ^ ^ ) at the end of the festival 


' Nihon koki, Ch. xiv, p. 74. 



Maigre entertainments {9th cent). 


41 


(I 14) and were presented with priestly robes. ' In A.D. 834 
(Showa 1) (according to the Genko Shakusho, but the Shoku 
Nihon koki does not mention this Ordinance) the Emperor Nimmyo 
established the rule concerning the koshi of the sanne, the leaders 
of the “Three Meetings”, the Gosaie in the Palace (I 8 — 14), the 
Saishoe in Yakashiji (III 7 — 13), and the Yuima-e in Kofukuji 
(X 10 — 16). Henceforth these three functions opened the way to 
the official sacerdotal ranks; only the iko, “those who 

had expounded”, i.e. who had performed these three important 
tasks, could become high-priests. - 

In A.D. 860 (Jokwan 2, IV 29) the Emperor Seiwa held a sai-e 
and had the Ninnokyo expounded; it was a meeting of a hundred 
seats and with a votive text. The next month (V 11) the Emperor 
and Empress distributed an enormous quantity of food and new 
coins to the monks and nuns, in order to assist junna Tenno’s 
Consort Masako, who for five days (V 7—11) gave a sai-e with 
expounding of the Hokkekyo. On this occasion the famous Tendai 
priest Ennin (Jikaku Daishi, jH! -fZ!, ^ ^ j 794 — 864), 

zasu of Enryakuji on Hieizan, gave her, in the presence of celebrated 
priests of all temples, the Bosatsiikai (Bodhisattva commandments) 
and the Buddhist name of Ryoso. ® This ceremony took place 
in Junna-in (j^^ ^ also called Sai-in, ^ |^, Junna Tenno’s 
detached palace, where she lived for 48 years and which was 
made a Buddhist temple by her when she died in A.D. 879, III 23). * 
In A.D. 874 (Jokwan 16, HI 23) the Emperor Seiwa held a 
daisaie or “Great Vegetarian Meeting” in Jokwanji (^ 
i.e, the Western building of Kajoji ^)> in Kii district, 

Yamashiro province, inorder to celebrate the completion 
of the new place of worship {dojo, altar). This was a great 

‘ Nihon koki, Ch. xx, p. 144; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiii, p. 1043, 
where the terms Gosaie and Uchirongi are used. Cf. below, Ch. xi, § 8. 
^ Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiu, p. 1047. 

® Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. iv, pp. 58 sqf; Ch. xxxv, p. 514. 

Kokushi daijifen, p. 1430, 1, s.v. Junna-in. 



42 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Shingon festival, with the Risshi Dosho ) (A.D. 798 — 875), 

who belonged to that sect, ' as its leader (doshi, ), and 

the Daisozu Etatsu a Hosso priest of Yakushiji, who 

lived A.D. 786 — 878) as the reader of the votive text {jugwan, 
HI)- ^ hundred eminent priests of all sects were invited, 
and it was a pompous festival with beautiful Chinese music, 
made by the musicians of the Department of Music (Gagakuryo, 
Utamai no tsukasa, ^ Daianji and Kofukuji. Dances 

were performed by forty young princes, who had studied them 
beforehand, and the temple was beautifully adorned with flags 
and canopies. All the Imperial Princes, Court nobles and officials 
were present, and a big crowd of spectators, male and female, 
had flocked together from the capital and the Home provinces. 
After the ceremony the doshi and each of the hundred priests 
obtained one dosha (|^ ^), i-e. a novice, as Imperial gift. If he 
’votive text mentioned the great Shingon priest Shinga ft) 
(Kobo Daishi’s younger brother and pupil, who lived A.D. 801 — 
879),® who was a great favourite of Seiwa Tenno, and to whose 
powerful influence this glorification of the Shingon doctrine 
was due. ^ 

In A.D, 878 (Genkei 2, IX 25) the same Emperor, now Dajo 
Tenno because in A.D. 876 (XI 29) he had abdicated in favour 
of his son (a child of 10 years!), invited 50 high- priests of great 
learning to Seiwa-in. This was Montoku Tenno’s votive temple 
Busshin-in, in Kyoto, which in A.D. 876, when Seiwa became a 
monk in this sanctuary and then retired to Engakuji (a villa made 
into a temple), had obtained its new name. Being a devout adherent 
of the Shingon sect, he had made this shrine, dedicated to Kwannon 
and Jizo, a temple of this sect. The aim of the great sai-e of 

' Washio, p. 878, 1, s. v. Dosho. 

^ Washio, p. 50, 1, s. v. Etatsu. 

^ Washio, p. 454, 1, s. v. Shinga. 

^ Sandai jitsuroka, Ch. xxv, p. 387. 

® Kokushi daijiten, p. 1525, 2, s. v. Seiwa-in. 



Maigre entertainments {9th cent). 


43 


A.D. 878 was to celebrate his mother Aki-ko’s 50th 
birthday, and to pray for long life for her. The meeting 
was attended by all the Imperial Princes, Court nobles, and civil 
and military officials. It lasted three days, and the Hokkekyo was 
the text expounded. ‘ This was also the case at the daisaie of 
the next year (A.D. 879, III 24 — 28), held in Seiwa-in during 
five days for the soul of Masako, Junna Tenno’s Consort, 
who had died the day before in Jiinna-in. “ 

The rising influence of the Lotus sutra, especially at services 
for the dead, was also seen at the SImki-gosaie, given in A.D. 
881 (Genkei 5, XI 26) by the Empress Dowager Fujiwara no 
Takako on behalf of the soul of her deceased Consort, the former 
Dajo Tenno Seiwa, when high-priests of all the great temples 
were invited, and the Hokkekyo was expounded for five days in 
the -^umedono palace in Kyoto. The whole Court assembled and 
gave alms to the poor, called together to the banks of the Kamo 
river. On the actual anniversary of Seiwa Tenno’s death (XII 4) 
his mother Aki-ko (Seiwa-In) held a Shuki-gosaie in the Kwannon 
shrine Engakuji (JJj ^ ^)> where he had lived in retirement, 
and offered up the Issaikyo, the whole Canon, copied by him 
during his reign. ^ Two years later (A.D. 883, XII 4) she again 
gave a vegetarian entertainment in the same temple, in the pre- 
sence of the Princes and Court nobles, for Seiwa Tenno’s soul 
on the third anniversary of his death. * 

The Lotus sutra, copied by the donor herself, was the offering 
made at the Daisaie given by the virtuous Fujiwara Princess Tamiko, 
concubine of Seiwa Tenno, who had become a nun on the day 
of his entering the religious order (A.D. 876). She arranged this 
great festival on behalf of his soul in requital of his unequalled 
favour and blessing virtue. The same day she received the Dai- 

‘ Sandai jifsuroku, Ch. xxxiv, p. 500. 

^ Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. xxxv, pp. 513 sq. 

J Ibid., Ch. XL, p. 573. 

* Ibid., Ch. XLiv, p. 613. 



44 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


jokai or Mahayana commandments and died, which caused a 
great emotion among those who attended the ceremony (A.D. 
886, Ninna 2, X 29). ' 

It is evident that Seiwa Tenno gave new life to the custom 
of entertaining the monks and nuns on a large scale, and that 
he used those elaborate festivals not only as mortuary services 
for the dead, but also to celebrate happy events, such as the 
erection of a new sanctuary or the fiftieth birthday of his mother. 
After his death his mother, consort and concubine (Fujiwara no 
Aki-ko, Taka-ko and Tami-ko) performed these great ceremonies 
on behalf of his soul. In later times the term sai-e is seldom 
found in the Annals, except in the name of the Oosaie, the highly 
important Palace festival of the second week of the year (18 — 14), 
annually performed from the ninth to the fifteenth century. 

' Ibid., Ch. XLIX, p. 700. 



CHAPTER III. 


THE FESTIVAL OF BUDDHA^S BIRTH (IV 8). 

§ 1. Its names and date. 

We saw above (Ch. II, §§ 2 and 4, pp. 28 sq.) that in A.D. 606 
(IV 8) the Empress Suiko ordered that beginning with that year 
a vegetarian festival should be held in all the temples on the 
8th day of the 4th month, ' and that the ceremonial caps, insti- 
tuted in A.D. 647 (XII 30) by the Emperor Kotoku, were worn 
by the officials also at that festival. This is the Kwambutsu-e, 
^ > “Meeting of Buddha’s Baptism”, also called BusshD-e, 

^ ^ “Meeting of Buddha’s Birth”, or TanjB-e, ^ ^ i^, 
“Meeting of the Birth”, or Gotan-e, “Meeting of the 

Birth”, always celebrated on the 8th day of the 4th month. Tanjd- 
Butsu, ^ ^ , the “New-born Buddha”, is a small wooden 

image, about four sun (inches) high, pointing with the right hand 
to Heaven and with the left hand to Earth. According to some 
of the holy texts he took seven steps, raised his right hand, 
and with a lion’s howl he spoke; “I am the most venerable and 
excelling one among all devas and men”. ® Other texts, however, 

‘ Nihongi, Ch. xxii, pp. 380 sq. ; Aston U, p. 134. 

Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 446; Aston II, p. 230. 

3 Kwako genzai ingwa kyd, 3 ^, “Sutra on the 

cause and effect of the past and present”, translated in 435—453 by Gunabhadra 
(4 fasc.) (Nanjo No. 666, a later and fuller translation of Nos. 664, 665), 
large Jap. ed. of Leiden, fasc. I, p. 16; Butsu hongyo shukyo, 
tr , “Sutra containing a collectiofi of original actions of the Buddha”, 

translated in A. D. 587 by Jnanagupta (NanjS No. 680, 60 fasc., 60 ch.; fasc. 



46 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


relate that he pointed to Heaven and Earth and said: 
“In Heaven and on Earth I alone am the Venerable One”; ‘ 
according to these words Tanjo Shaka is represented in the 
Butsuzo zui"^ and in the temples of the present day. The cele- 
bration of the Buddha’s birth on the 8th day of the fourth month, 
the so-called Busshd-nichi, ^ ^ 0 r or “Day of the Buddha’s 
birth”, is based on ancient Indian texts. 

The Lalitavistara (Nanjo Nos. 159 sq., translated in A.D. 308 
by Dharmaraksha 1, and in A.D. 683 by Divakara) relates how 
two Naga-kings, Nanda and Upananda, standing in the air, 
produced two streams of water cold and warm and therewith 
bathed the Bodhisattva. Hiien-tsang, referred to by Prof. Vogel 
in his very interesting work entitled “Indian Serpent-lore” , gives the 
same legend in a duplicated form : the two dragons (Nagas), 
“fixed in the air, poured down, the one a cold and the ocher 
a warm water stream from his mouth, to wash the prince” and 
“two springs gurgled forth from the earth just before the queen, 
the one cold, the other warm, using which they (the attendants) 
bathed him”. Prof. Vogel points out, that both these forms of the 
legend, which also occur in the Mahavastu, are represented in 
Buddhist art. With regard to China he mentions one of the silk 
banners recovered by Sir Aurel Stein from the “Cave of the 

VIII, Ch. VI, 2, his birth under the tree), p. 13; Shaka-fu (Shih-kia pu, 
“A record or history of the Sakya (family)", compiled about 
A. D. 500 by Sang-yiu, (Nanjo No. 1468, 10 fasc., 34 ch.), fasc. I, 

p. 23d. Cf. Daijiten, p. 1120, 1, s. v. Tanjo-Butsu. 

' Shugyd hongi kyo, ff 2^1^ ^ “ Sutra on the origin of practice 

(of the Bodhisattva)”, translated A.D. 197 (Nanjo No. 664, 2 fasc., 7 ch.), 
fasc. I, ch. 2, p. 106; Taishi zui-d hongi kyd, 

“Sutra on the origin of the auspicious answer (i. e. his compliance with 
the request of the gods) of the Crown-prince”, translated in A. D. 232 — 253 
by Chi K’ien, a foreign upasaka (Nanjo No. 665, a later translation 

of No. 664; 2 fasc., no chapters), fasc. I, p. 4a. Cf. also Nanjo No. 545 
(Dlrghagama-sutra). 

* Butsttzd zu'i, II, p. 16. 



Festival of Buddha's Birth. 


47 


thousand Buddhas” at Tun-Hwang, on which the heads of the 
“nine dragons of the air” gaze down on the newly born Bodhi- 
sattva with open mouths. ' 

On the Barabudur the Nagas are not represented, but water 
streams and flowers descend upon the standing infant from a 
cloud. The Bodhisattva is also making the seven steps, and seven 
lotus flowers arise from the earth, on two of which he has placed 
his feet. According to the Lalitavistara he had first been standing 
upon a large lotus flower, which arose from the earth immedia- 
tely after his birth. From there he looked to the four quarters, 
took seven steps to the East and said ; “I shall be the first of 
all dharma's, which are the roots of Salvation”. Then he took 
seven steps to the South, West and North, and whereever he 
placed his feet lotus flowers arose. - 

In jTibet the new-born Bodhisattva is represented in the same 
way as in China and Japan. With regard to such a statue Mr. 
Hackin remarks: “Le dragon qui orne le tablier rappelle la scene 
du bain et des sept pas, tandis que les bras, diriges vers les 
regions superieures et inferieures, indiquent que le Bodhisattva 
est le maitre des dieux et qu’il vaincra le demon et I’armee du 
demon”. “ 


§ 2. The Mahasattva-sutra. 

The Mahasattva-sutra Makasetsuzu-kyo), 

translated A.D. 388 — 407 by the Chinese priest Shing-kien, ^ ^ , 

' J. Ph. Vogel, Indian Serpent-lore (London, 1926), pp. 95 sq., Plate vi. 
The “nine dragons of the air” are represented in a modern Chinese Life of 
Buddha, pouring down water upon him from the clouds. He is standing 
on the lotus, pointing to Heaven and Earth {Shalca Nyorai oge jiseki 
(1869), Vol. I, 1, 10). 

^ N. J. Krom, De levensgeschiedenis van den Buddha op Barabudur (the 
Hague, 1926), pp. 34 sq. 

3 J. Hackin, Guide-Catalogue du Musee Guimet, Les Collections Boud- 
dhiques (Inde Centrale et Gandhara, Turkestan, Chine septentrionale, Tibet) 
(1923), p. 89. 



48 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


App. II no. 63, who also translated Nanjo no. 292, 1^ ^ 

“Sutra spoken by Buddha on sprinkling (water on) 
and washing (the images of) Buddha” (cf. Nos. 291, 293, 294), 
states that the Buddha was born on the eighth day of the fourth 
month, and that he made seven steps and, raising his right 
hand, said: “I shall become the Master on behalf of mankind, 
in Heaven and on Earth”. ' Heaven and Earth shook ; Indra and 
the Four Deva Kings descended, washed the Crown-prince’s 
body with incense-water and sprinkled flowers over him. “AH 
Buddhas of the ten quarters are born at midnight of the 8th day 
of the 4th month, because at that time, between spring and 
summer, all evil is ended, everything has fully matured, poisonous 
vapours are not yet spreading, there is neither cold not heat, 
and the atmosphere is harmonious and agreeable”. So spoke the 
Tathagata after having reached Buddhahood. “As this day is his 
birthday, all people of the whole earth must think on the Buddha's 
blessing power, and wash his images as in his life-time”. - 


§ 3. The Sutra on the meritorious action of bathing the 
(Buddha's) image (Nanjo No. 294). 

In Nanjo No. 294 ( '(Qt ^ ^ Yokuzo kudoku kyo, “Sutra 
on the meritorious action of bathing the (Buddha’s) image”, 


' Cf. Butsuzo zu'i, |gj published in A. D. 1690, with pictures 

of Tosa Hidenobu, -|^ of Jodo priest Gizan, 

jXl (1648 — 1717), II, p. 1 b, quoting the Fah-yuen chu-lin, ^ 

Nanjo No. 1482, compiled by Tao-shi, , A.D. 668. 

^ Quoted in the Daijii, I, p. 970, 1. Cf. also the Daijiten, pp. 350 sq., 
s. V. kwambutsu; fig. 27. The Mahasattva sutra is not found in Nanjb’s 
Catalogue, but Fujii mentions it as a translation by Shing-kien, on p. 268 
of his Catalogue of all Buddhist books contained in the Pitaka Collection 
in Japan and China, KySto 189d. Cf. also Daijiten, p. 1648, 1, s. v. Ma- 
kasefsuzukyd. 



Festival of Buddha’s Birth. 


49 


translated A.D. 710 by the pilgrim I-tsing App. 11149), 

the same text as No. 293 , translated 

A.D. 705 by Ratnacinta, ^ App. II 148) the Buddha 

explains the way of washing his images, on behalf of the kings, 
princes, ministers, queens and royal concubines, devas and nagas, 
men and demons, and calls it the most excelling of all offerings. 
He prescribes how the incense-water must be made from all 
kinds of precious incense, rubbed on a pure stone, and how the 
altar, square or round, large or small according to the circum- 
stances, must be erected on a pure spot. After having washed 
the image on the altar, the worshipper with two fingers must 
drip the water with which it has been washed, called Kichijo-sui, 
“Water of Felicity”, on the top of his own head, 
and^ then he must shed it on a pure ground, not to be trodden 
by feet. Thereupon he must wipe the image with a thin and 
soft towel, burn all kinds of incense around it, and put it on 
its original place. If virtuous men perform this rite, felicity, health 
and long life shall be granted to the great mass of men and 
devas on account of the purity of the Buddha’s images. 

§ 4. Accounts of the pilgrims I-tsing and Fah-hien. 

These rites were, however, not limited to the Buddha’s birth- 
day, for at the end of the sutra the writer promises great blessings 
to those who daily perform them, and in the fourth chapter of 
the Nan-hai ki-kwei nei-fah-chw'en 

I-tsing work on the Vinaya of the priests in India 

and the South Sea countries (Nanjo No. 1492, A.D. 700 — 712, 
he travelled A.D. 671 — 695), two kinds of bathing rites of images 
in the monasteries of the Western Countries are described, the 
first of which took place in the middle or at the end of the 
month in the presence of all the rnonks, whereas the second was 
performed daily in the cells, by every monk separately; these 

4 



50 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


rites were quite different from those described in Nanjo No. 294. ' 
Fah-hien imm ), however, in his journal entitled Fah-hien 
chw‘en 'j^i A.D. 414, Nanjo No. 1496; he travelled A.D. 

399 — 414) says that in Pataliputra, an ancient city in Magadha, 
(and in all other countries of India) there was yearly on the 
8th day of the 4th month a procession of four-wheeled cars of 
five bamboo layers, with sitting Buddhas and standing attendant 
Bodhisattvas in shrines on the four sides. Some years previously 
he had seen a similar procession in Khotan, on his way to India. 
The author of the article on the Kwambutsu-e in the Bukkyo 
daijii (I, p. 970, 1), who quotes these passages, arrives at the 
conclusion that it is not clear whether India had a regular cere- 
mony of Buddha’s birth, and that it seems that a procession of 
images was held instead of the bathing of Buddha. 


§ 5. Celebration of the Buddha's birthday in China. 

The “Records of the lineage of Buddha and the Patriarchs" 
{Fuh-tsu fung-ki, Nanjo No. 1661), compiled in 

A.D. 1269 — 1271 by the T‘ien-fai priest Chi-p‘an {1^^) 
(App. Ill 68), relate in chapter 38, that in A.D. 497 (T‘ai-hwo 21), 
during the Northern Wei dynasty, the Emperor Hiao-Wen 
(A.D. 471 — 499) on the eighth day of the fourth month assembled 
the Buddha images of all the temples of the capital Loh-yang 
to the Ch‘ang-hoh Palace (^ ® the Emperor’s palace, 
called after the Gate of Heaven) and, sprinkling flowers, paid 
reverence to them {sange raigyo, thenceforth he- 

made this a yearly ceremony. And in the Books of Wei it is 
stated that the Emperor Shi-Tsu T‘ai-Wu (^ jSi. (A-D. 

424 — 452) in the beginning of his reign personally ascended the 
gate tower and looked down upon the Buddha images, when on 

‘ Cf. Takakusu, translation of j-tsing’s work, Ch. xxxi, Rules of deco- 
rum in cleansing the sacred object of worship {pp. 147 sqq.). 



Festival of Buddha’s Birth. 


51 


the 8th day of the 4th month they went in carriages along the 
broad streets, and paid reverence to them, bestrewing them with 
flowers. ' The author of the Bukkyo daijii remarks, that these 
passages are clear evidence of the fact that the rite of the pro- 
cession of images on Buddha’s birthday, seen by Fah-hien in 
Pataliputra and Khotan Uten), had been transmitted 

from India to China. 

In A.D. 462 (Ta Ming 6) the Emperor Hiao-Wu {'^ ;|^) of 
Sung (454 — 465) in his palace performed the rite of washing 
the Buddha and gave a vegetarian entertainment to the monks. ^ 
This was the beginning of the Kwambufsu-e in China. 

During the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581 — 618) the priest Hiien-yuen 
who did his utmost to promote the Vinaya in China, 
yearly on Buddha’s birthday assembled the monks, nuns and 
lay-nffembers of the Buddhist community, male and female, arranged 
the bathing utensils, fulfilled the ceremony of washing the Buddha, 
preached and gave a maigre feast, as we learn from his biography, 
quoted in the same passage of the Bukkyo daijii (1, p. 970, 3). 
There it is also stated that the Sung dynasty (A.D. 960—1279) 
was the time of the spreading of this rite, and two works are 
referred to, in the first of which ^ we read that on the Buddha’s 
birthday the kusu ( , also called kosii, , the adminis- 

trative assistant-leader of a monastery) prepared the “flower- 
pavilion” (1^ ^)> '■i which he placed the image of the new-born 


' Weishii, Ch. 114 quoted Bukkyo daijii, I, 

p. 970, 3, s. V. kwambutsu-e. 

2 Nanjo No. 1661, Fuh-tsu t’ung-ki, , Ch. 36. 

3 Nanjo No. 1642, Ch'ih-siu Poh-chang t^ing-kwei, 

written A.D. 1336—1338 by Imperial order by the Dhyana priest Teh-hwui, 
^ ^ (App. HI 89) (cf. Daijii III, p. 3926, 3) (Sfasc., 9 ch.); Ch. ii, ^ 


p. I b. Cf. Shih-shi yao-lan. 




(3 kwan), written in 


A. D. 1020 — 1024 by the priest Tao-ch’ing, 
cf. Daijii II, p. 2403, 3. 



Ch. I. About this work 


3 



52 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Buddha. Then he put two small ladles in a basin of hot incense- 
water arid arranged several offerings before the Buddha. 

Thereupon the abbot of the monastery ( "f j ^ , juji) entered the 
hall and led the ceremony; incense and flowers, candles, tea, 
fruits and rare delicacies were offered to the Tathagata. 

About A.D. 1017 the famous T’/en-f’af priest Tsun-shih ( 

A.D. 963—1032), who had made the West Lake in Cheh-kiang 
province a "pond for liberating living beings” (cf. below, Ch. 
VI, B, § 3), assembled the people of that district on the Buddha's 
birthday and caused them to let loose fishes and birds, at the 
same time praying for long life for the Emperor. ' 

With regard to the celebration of this festival at the present 
day we may refer to Prof, de Groot’s Fetes Annuelles a Emoui, 
Vol. I, Ch. II, pp. 307 sqq. “ 

§ 6. Celebration of the Buddha's birthday in Japan. 

A. From the 7th to the 10 th century. 

In Japan the vegetarian festivals on the 8 th day of the 4th month 
and on the 15th day of the 7 th month, instituted in A.D. 606 
(IV 8) by the Empress Suiko, were, of course, the Bussho-e and 
the Urabon-e the Festivals of the 

Buddha s birth and of the dead. On the same day "the sixteen- 

' Fah-tsu Nanjo No. '1661 {A.D. 1269—1271), Ch. 33; Daijii, 

III, p. 4123, 3, s. V. hojoe; Daijiten, p. 1388, 2, s. v. hojochi. Chi-li (about 
A.D. 1020) performed the same ceremony at the South Lake, cf. below, 
Ch. Vl § 3 {hojoe In China). 

2 “Dans un grand nombre de convents bouddhiques du Midi de la 
province de Fonhkien, on pent assister le 8 du quatrifeme mois k I’ex- 
position de 1 image de Bouddha, que les pretres placent dans un grand 
vase d’eau en vue du peuple en avant des images de la Trinity. Qui 
veut, laique aussi bien que pretre, peut IS-dessus s’avancer et arroser la 
tgte de Bouddha, avec de I’eau qu’il puise dans le vase au moyen d’une 
cuill^re, aussi souvent qu’il le^ddsire”. ... Cette cdrdmonie s’appelle en 
Chine ‘laver le crane’, ^ " (pp. 309 sq.). 



Festival of Buddha’s Birth. 


53 


foot images of Buddha, viz. that of copper and that of embroidery 
(made according to the vow of A.D. 605, IV 1), were finished, 
and the sixteen-foot copper image was enshrined in the Golden 
Hall of Gwangoji {Hokoji, ^ ^ Asuka-dera). ’ Also in China 
it was the custom to choose the Buddha’s birthday for the dedi- 
cation of his images to the sanctuaries. 

In the Tempyo era (A.D. 729 — ^749) HoryUji and Daianji 
{Hosso and Sanron sects) already possessed a kondei-kwambutsuzo 
a “gold-painted bathing-Buddha-image”), and 
also Todaiji {Kegon sect) still has a Tanjo-Butsu of that time. ^ 
In Showa 7 (A.D. 840, IV 8) the Kwambutsu-e, celebrated in 
the Palace, took place for the first time, as we learn from the 
Mizu kagami. '* The Risshi Joan ( Hosso priest living 

in Gwangoji, led this ceremony in the Seiryoden ('^^^)- 
According to the Sandai-jitsuroku in A.D. 859 (jogwan I, IV 8) 
“the Kwambutsu ceremony took place as usual, on IV 8. The 
rite was performed by the Emperor Seiwa in the A/a/den ( ^ ^), 
an inner apartment of the Palace ; and the Imperial Princes, the 
kuge and the Court officials of the sixth rank and higher, all 
presented donations in money (to the priests). There was difference 
in the amount (of these donations); the others all imitated this”.* 
The Engishiki ’ (A.D. 927) enumerates among the utensils for 
the Kwambutsu ceremony in the Palace a gold-coloured Shako 
image, a kondo basin {kondo, is an alloy of gold and 


’ Nihongi, Ch, xxii, pp, 380 sq. ; Aston U, p. 134. 

^ Cf. the lists of treasures of those temples, referred to in the Daijii, 


I, p. 971, 1. 

^ JlJC written in the second half of the 12‘h century; Kokushi taikei, 
Vol. xvir, Ch, m, p. 452; Washio, p. 656, 1, s. v. /oan. 


‘ B * H K Nihon Sandai jitsuroku, written in A. D. 901 

by Fujiwara no Tokihira, Kokushi taikei, Vol. iv, Ch. n, p. 28. 

5 j!l^, “Ceremonies of the Engi era (901 — 923), written in 927 

by Fujiwara no Tokihira ( ) and Tadahira ( ). Kokushi taikei, 

Vol. xiir, Ch. XIII, p. 491. 



54 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


copper), two mountain-shaped pedestals, decorated with a 
blue and a red dragon (evidently the Naga kings Nanda 
and Upananda, who according to the Lalitavistara bathed the 
Bodhisattva after having produced two streams of water, cold 
and warm); one kondo tara (a flat basin in which the small 
Buddha image was placed), ’ four black-lacquered tables, ladles, 
two flower-basins with flowers of the season, a kondo brazier, 
five baskets for sprinkling flowers, one cushion (for the leading 
priest) etc. 


B. In the 14th century. 

In the Kemmu era (A.D. 1334—1335) the Kwambutsu-e was 
celebrated with much pomp and stateliness in the Imperial Palace. 
Behind the throne probably two “mountain-shapes’” ( aj») were 
erected; in the Engishiki we read of “mountain-shaped pedestals”. 
As we shall see below, the Nihongi repeatedly mentions models 
of Mount Shumi (the Sumeru), constructed e. g. at Asuka-dera, 
on the river-bank east of Amakashi and near the pond of Iso no 
Kami. But for the two dragons mentioned in the Engishiki the 
mountain represented at the Kwambutsu-e might be the Gold 
Mountain on which Maya, Buddha’s mother, saw the Bodhisattva 
approaching her in a dream, and entering her womb in the shape 
of a white elephant. The Vulture Peak {Grdhrakutd) near Raja- 
grha, the Lord's favourite mountain, was also often represented. 
The dragons, however, as well as the waterfalls, made on the 
mountain(s) by means of silk thread (probably there were two 
waterfalls) may represent the streams produced by the Nagakings 
Nanda and Upananda; the two ladles of the ceremony may point 
to the same tradition. On the North side tables were placed with 
five basins of five-coloured water. When the Court nobles had 
assembled, the gifts of the Court-ladies {fuse, ^ Mt’ dana) 

‘ Cf. Daijii, III, p. 3258, 3, s. v. tara. 



Festival of Buddha's Birth. 


55 


(to the priests) were put in (covers of) clothing-boxes and placed 
by the kurodo ( ^ A. officials in charge of important state 
documents in the Imperial Court) on a high table (cfaf6an, ^^), 
and all the other gifts were also placed by them on other tables. 
Then the on-doshi, the Leading Priest, went up to 

the Buddha image and washed it, after having ladled the water 
out of the basins and poured it into one of them. Then the 
Court nobles came forwards successively, and, creeping on their 
knees with their tablets shaku) in their hands, they took 

a calabash (hisago), dipped it into the water and washed the 
Buddha. Thereupon they receded a little, worshipped the Buddha, 
and went away. The leading priest, after having received the 
gifts, withdrew. This was the principal ceremony; those of other 
people and palaces of the capital were a little different. ' 


C. In the Tokugawa time. 

In the Tokugawa time it became the custom to use so-called 
“sweet tea” {ama-cha, a plant) to wash the Buddha, instead 

of the five kinds of incense-water of ancient times, and so it is 
still at the present day. A special gatha is recited on this oc- 
casion, consisting of four lines of seven characters each. It runs 
as follows: 

"Now I wash ail the Tathagatas, 

The crowd of pure wisdom, blessing power and sublimity! 

I wish that those living beings, defiled by the five pollutions,'^ 


‘ Koke shidai, ^ , written by Oe Masafusa, 

(A. D. 1041 — 1111), Ch. VI, quoted in the Daijii, I, p. 971,1; Kokashi 
daijiten, p. 929, s. v. Kwambutsu-e. 

The five defilements, gojoku, are those of the kalpa, (er- 

roneous) views, passions (bonnd, klesas), Ifving beings, and life. Ci. Daijiten, 
p. 553, 1, s. V. gojoku. 



56 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


May speedily testify to the pure Dharma-body of the 

Tathagatas!” ' 

In all sects, except the Jodo Shinshu, on the Buddha’s birth- 
day a temporary chapel (1SS. kari-dd) is prepared, and its 
roof is adorned with the flowers of the season. This is called 
Hana-mi-dd “August Flower-chapel”) or Hana-tei 

“Flower-pavilion”). In this chapel the image of the 
new-born Buddha, standing upon the lotus flower which after 
his birth arose from the earth, is placed in a copper basin with 
“sweet tea” and the visitors of the temple with small ladles 
pour the amacha over the Buddha’s head. Then they take the 
liquid home in small vessels, and after having mixed it with 
their ink (i. e. having wetted their inkstone therewith) they write 
the following verse (uta); “On the lucky day, the mighty eighth 
day of the month of the hare (the 4th month), we are sure to 
execute the larvae of the insects (kamisage-mushiy\^ If one pastes 
this paper on the wall in his house, he is believed to escape 
the evil of centipedes and other noxious insects. ® 

According to the Kokushi daijiten ( (AD- 

1908) (p. 929, s.v. Kwambutsu-e) in the compounds of the temples 
peddlers sell nazuna (^, shepherd’s purse) and u-no-hana 
Deutzia Thunbergii), and people take these flowers 
home and offer them to the Buddha. As they consider the nazuna 
to be a charm against insects, they hang them with a thread in 

' S 4^ i# ® SB , 

2 Chihayaburu 
U-zuki ybka v/a 
Kichi-nichi ni, 

Kamisage-mushi wo ^ 

Seibai zo suru. 

® Daijii, I, p. 970, 1, s.v. Kwambutsu-e. 



Festival of Buddha's Birth. 


57 


their andon lamps with paper shades). This writer says 

that the paper with the verse against the insects is pasted on the 
ceiling, with the words Hachi-dai-ryu-d-cha ( ^ ^ 

“Tea of the Eight Great Dragon-kings”, written on it by means 
of the ink, mixed with the amacha of the Kwambutsu-e, in order 
to escape the danger of lightning. ' These Dragon-kings, being 
thunder-gods, may, of course, save from this danger those 
who worship them or use their names in a magical way. On 
this day rice-cakes are made and sold, called itadaki (-mochi), 
a kind of rice-cakes flattened and with a hollow in the 
centre which is filled with an , boiled and crushed pea-beans 
or beans, sweetened with sugar), and offered to the Buddha. 
These cakes have the form of “slices of scattered lotus flowers”, 
and ^are made “with new paste” {nori). They were sold in the 
compounds of the temples and in all confectionery shops, but 
after the Restauration this custom gradually passed into disuse. -^ 
Evidently those cakes represented the lotus flowers which after 
the Buddha’s birth arose under his feet and those which the 
gods sprinkled over him. Thus the worship paid to him by 
Heaven and Earth was symbolized and imitated in the Far East, 
and at the present day the festival of his birth is still celebrated 
in Japan with the ancient bathing-ceremony as well as with flowers 
and processions. 

' Cf. the present writer’s treatise on the Dragon in China and Japan, 
Introd. p. 4; Ch. iv, § 7 (about the Eight Dragon-kings). As stated above, 
according to the Lalitavistara the Naga kings Nanda and Upananda bathed 
the Buddha by means of two streams of hot and cold water. 

2 Kokushi daijiten, p. 929, s. v. Kwambutsu-e. 



CHAPTER IV. 


THE BUDDHIST FESTIVAL OF THE DEAD (VII 15). 

§ 1. The first dates in Japan. 

In A.D. 606 ( 14 th year of the Empress Suiko’s reign) (VII 15) 
the maigre feast of the 15th day of the 7th month was held for 
the first time (cf. above, Ch. II, § 2, p. 28). ' 

In A.D. 647 (Taikwa 3) (XII 30) this vegetarian entertainment 
was again mentioned with regard to the ceremonial caps, worn 
on such occasions (cf. Ch. II, § 4, p. 29). - 

In A.D. 657 (third year of the reign of the Empress Saimei) 
(VII 15) “A model of Mount Sunii (the Sumeru) was constructed 
to the West of Asuka-dera. Moreover the Avalambana-festival 
{Urabon-e, ) was held. In the evening the people 

from Tukhara were entertained. * 

In A.D. 659 (VII 15) “by decree to the Ministers, the Empress 
(Saimei) had the Urabon sutra expounded in all the temples of 
the capital, and requital made to the ancestors for seven gene- 
rations” This agrees with the Buddha's 

words in the text of the sutra. 

In A.D. 733 (Tempyo 5) (Vll 6) the Emperor Shomu “for the 
first time ordered that a great dinner (should be given to the 
Buddhist priests) and an Avalambana-offering {Urabon no kuyd) 

’ Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 380 sq.; Aston II, p. 134. 

- Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 446; Aston H, p. 230. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, p. 459; Aston II, p. 251. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, p. 465; Aston II, p. 263. 



Festival of the Dead. 


59 


should be prepared” (probably on the 15 th of that month) 

#)• ' 

This “offering” was the so-called Urabon-gu the meal 

of a hundred kinds of dishes, prepared on the fifteenth of the 
seventh month for the monks at the end of their three-monthly 
rest iango). In A.D. 733 for the first time such a dinner was 
given in the Palace and the Emperor made it a constant ceremony.^ 

In A.D. 889 (Kwampyo 1, VII 14) on behalf of the souls 
of former Emperors Uda Tenno made an offering of eighty 
vessels of food {Urabon), some of which were sent to the go- 
gwanji ) (erected by Imperial vow or ordinance, 

chokugwanji, chokugwanjo, for the protection of the State, namely 
Daianji, Yakushiji, Todaiji, Hokkeji and all the kokubunji and 
kokubun-niji, Toji and Saiji, Enryakiiji on Hieizan, Daikakuji 
and Ninnaji; afterwards Daigoji (A.D. 902) and Nanzenji (A.D. 
1290)); some were sent to Saito-in, Kwazanji etc. Four days 
later he sent one piece of “life-lengthening (litt. continuing) silk”, 
one jar of lamp-oil, and one piece of (fine) silk to Enryakuji, 
Saito-in, Jingoji, Toji and Saiji, Onjoji {Miidera), Hachimangu 
and Hasedera, for reading sutras (probably the Urabongyo) and 
making offerings {fuse, dana). ^ The Gukwansbo relates the same 
facts with regard to the next year; there the offering is called 
Urabongu. * 

Urabon-ko (^) (“expounding”) is another term for Urabon-e 
(#) (“meeting”). 


§ 2. The meaning of the word. 

The word U-lan-ban ( ;^ ^ ^) (now pronounced U-lan-p‘an) 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xi, p. 192. 

2 Genko Sfiakasho, yE written A. D. 1331 — 1334 by the 

Rinzai priest Shiren, gj|j (1278-1346); K. T. K. Vol. Xiv, Ch. XXll, p. 1015. 

3 Faso ryakki, Ch. xxn, p. 636. 

Gukwansho. Ch. xxiv, p. 1060. 



60 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


is translated into “to hang upside down”, “to be in 

suspense”, with regard to the “suspended state of souls in hell 
who are waiting to be released by priestly prayers.” ’ 

In the Chinese canon of the Sung dynasty the transcription 

U-lan-p‘a~na b‘an-tsa-na, is given, with 

the translation ^ , “Vessel for saving those being in 

suspense”. The author of the Bukkyd daijii (I, p. 304, s.v. Ura- 
bon-e) remarks that the four first characters represent uUambana, 
i. e. ud-lambana, with the meaning “those being in 

suspense”, but that it is not clear which word is meant by the 
three last characters b‘an-tsa-na. He supposes the character 
to have been used as a sound as well as in its signification of 
“vessel”, “bowl”. As to the term '^\ he refers to Mencius, 
who uses this expression with regard to the people, who rejoiced 
as much as if they were released from a suspended state. 

Hiien-ying (NanjO, App. Ill 20), who about A.D. 649 

compiled his dictionary entitled “Sounds and 

meanings of the whole canon” (NanjO No. 1606), says that the 
transcription U-lan-b‘an (although universally used) is wrong and 
U-lan-p‘a-na right, and that the translation of the word is -fgj 
“being in suspense”. “It is a rite of the Western countries. On 
the day of self-indulgence ( Q ^ ) of the monks (Pravarana, 
the last day of the Retreat of the Indian rainy season), plenti- 
ful offerings are given to the Buddha and the 
Sahgha, in order to save the dead (relatives) from the suffering 
of ‘being in suspense’. Formerly ^ (the first and the last 

of the three characters, also used together to designate this fes- 

tival, both meaning bowl, basin) was said to be a ‘vessel of 
accumulated food’ but this is a mistake”. - 

■ Cf. Wells Williams, Syllabic Dictionary, p. 232 s. v. ; Eitel, Sanskr.- 

Chin. Diet., s. v. UUambana; Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, sec. ed., pp. 125 sq. ; 
Nanjo, No. 303. 

^ Nanjo No. 1605, Ch. xiii; Daijii I, p. 304, s.v. Urabon-e; Daijiten, 

p. 120, 2, s. V. Urambon-, p. 118, 2, s. v. Ubonsai-, p. 1107, 1, s.v. token. 



Festival of the Dead (its name). 


61 


Tsung-mih (App. Ill 38), the fifth patriarch of the 

Avatamsaka {Kegon) school, who lived A.D. 779 — 840 and wrote 
a “Commentary on the Avalambana Sutra" (Nanjo No. 303), 

Nanjo No. 1601 (2 fasc.), Ch. ~f»), states 

that Ulan ^) is a word of the Western regions, meaning 
“hanging upside down” (being in suspense), whereas Fan (^) 
is a sound of Eastern Hia (M M- China), so that it means a 
“vessel to save those being in suspense” §p:)- 

Then he speaks about the spirit of Maudgalyayana’s mother, 
who had fallen upon the dark road (she had become a Preta, 
as he saw by means of his celestial eye), and how the Buddha 
(in the Avalambana sutra, Nanjo No. 303) ordered him to put all 
kinds of delicacies in a bowl and offer them up to the Triratna, 
to oj-der to save the hungry spirit from its sufferings. ' 

Tsung-mih’s explanation of the word U-lan-b‘an was accepted 
by Fah-yun (l^^) (App. Ill 60), who in A.D. 1151 wrote his 
well-known dictionary of technical names in Sanskrit and Chinese 
(Nanjo No. 1640, Fan-yih ming-i tsih, ^ ^ ^ Ch. IV); 

but Yuen-chao (;^ ^^), a Vinaya priest of the Northern Sung 
dynasty, who lived A.D. 1048 — 1116, in his “New Commentary 
on the Avalambana sutra" Ch. I, critisizes 

this interpretation and states that the whole word avalambana 
means “hanging upside down”, “being in suspense”, and that 
the word “bov/1” (^), used in the text, caused the commen- 
tators to explain the third character of the transcription in its 
meaning instead of only as the phonetical term Fan for bana. ^ 
In the title of Nanjo No, 304, ^ IS ^ ® ^ ^ “Sutra 
spoken by Buddha on offering a vessel (of eatables to the Buddha 
and the Satigha), in requital of the favours (received from one’s 
parents) (the same work as No. 303, translated under the Eastern 

' Daijiten, 1.1.; Daijii, 1.1.; Suppl. of the Canon ( 0 

Bundle xxxiv, 2. * 

2 Daijiten 1.1.; Daijii, 1.1.; Suppl. of the Canon, ibidem. 



62 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Tsin dynasty, A.D. 317 — 420) we find the character ^ used to 
designate the vessel. 

Prof. Vogel kindly informed me that the word Avalambana 
(as Waddell ' calls the festival) means hanging - - in Bothlingk- 
Roth’s Sanskrit Wdrterbuch s. v. avalambana the word is ex- 
plained as "das sich an etwas hangen, etwas stiitzen, etwas halten.” 
Prof. Vogel further pointed out that lamb is the root of the verb 
which means “to hang”, and that ud, on high, combined with 
this root, is found in the word ullambita (a past participle), 
“being suspended”, “floating”. As to olamba, this is explained 
as “something hanging” in Childers’ Pali Dictionary s.v. olambo, 
and as “hanging down” in that of Rhys Davids and William 
Stede {Pali English Dictionary). In none of these works is the 
word ullambana found. 

Prof. Caland kindly drew my attention to a passage of the 
MahdbhQrata (I 215 sqq.), where Jaratkaru, erring about as brah- 
macdrin (abstaining from sexual intercourse), sees his “fathers” 
(pifaras) hanging in a pit with their heads downwards and being 
about to fall down, because a rat is gnawing through the last 
blade of grass that keeps them still hanging. Then he asks them; 
“Who are you, who are hanging down” {avalambana)’?" The 
Chinese translator may have recollected this passage as well as 
the abstract sense of the term “hanging upside down”, used by 
Mencius, and he may have thought that this special case, in 
which the ancestors intended to show their only descendant the 
terrible danger to which he exposed them by his ascetism, had 
a general meaning with regard to the sufferings of the dead. 
This may actually be the case, and the term u-lan-b‘an seems to 
mean “hanging upside down”. 

As to the offerings to the Buddha and the Sahgha on behalf 
of the parents and ancestors of seven generations, mentioned in 
the Avalambana sutra. Prof. Caland remarked, that the sapindas 

' Lamaism, p. 98. 

2 Cf. Childers, Diet, of the Pali language, s. v. avalambanam. 



Festival of the Dead (its name). 


63 


or agnati are those, whose right and duty it is to offer the pinda 
or rice-ball (at the srdddha or sacrifice to the dead) to their 
fathers and forefathers up to the seventh generation. ' The Bud- 
dhists appear to have changed this offering to the dead into an 
offering to the Buddha and the priests on behalf of the parents 
and ancestors; at the same time they identified it with the Pra- 
varana offering, as we learn from the text of the sutra itself and 
from the date of the festival. We shall see below, how in later 
times in China and Japan it became again a sacrifice to the dead 
themselves. 

When examining the way in which Dharmaraksha I uses the 
word u-lan~b‘an in his translation of the sutra (Nanjo No. 303), 
first we find it in the title ^ ^ ^ “Sutra spoken 

by the Buddha on the u-lan-b‘an vessel”, whereas the second 
translation (Nanjo No. 304) bears the title of # sS ^ 

^ “Sutra spoken by the Buddha on offering the vessel 
{b‘an) in requital of the favours (received from one's parents)”; 
the term u-lan-b'an is not found in the latter text. In requital 
of the favours is not an attempt to translate the foreign word, 
for the same characters are used by Dharmaraksha at the end 
of the sutra. 

In Dharmaraksha’s text the term u-lan-b‘an is found in three 
passages. Maudgalyayana asks the Buddha whether also in future 
ages all the Buddha’s disciples (to be taken in the sense of 
monks, nuns and lay-members of the community) must “offer 
the u-lan-b‘an (^^^ ^) in order to save their present 
parents and those of the seven former generations. The Buddha 
answers that “monks and nuns, kings and crown-princes, ministers 
and lords, officials and common people all should put the 
hundred delicacies, drink and food in an u-lan-b'an 
and distribute them to the ‘self-indulgent’ monks of the ten 

‘ Cf. Caland, Uber Totenverehrung bei einigen der Indo-Germanischen 
Vdlker, Kon. Akad. v. \V,, 1888, p. 20, «ote (there we read about six 
generations, the three last receiving the most important offerings). 



64 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


quarters ('e- at the Pra- 

varana festival)”. At the end of the sutra the Buddha repeats that 
on the fifteenth day of the seventh month all pious disciples 
ot Buddha should make u-!an-b‘an and distribute them 
to the Buddha and the priests in order to requite 
the favour for the education and love received from 
their parents 


The second of these passages leaves no doubt as to the meaning 
of the term; it must be the offering vessel itself. Now we 
understand why Tsung-mih and Fah-yun thought it to be an 
“u-Ian vessel”. The Chinese canon of the Sung dynasty, 
however, in accordance with Hiien-ying and Yuen-chao gave the 
transcription u-lan-p‘a-na (in the sense of ‘‘those being in sus- 
pense”) and b'an-tsa-na (in the sense of “saving vessel’ ). So, 
like NanjO and the author of the Bukkyo daijiten, we arrive at 
the conclusion that Dharmaraksha used the character ^ in two 
functions; as a transcription of the two last syllables bana 
(or pana) of a foreign word and in its meaning of “vessel”. 
As to such a double use of characters we may refer to the term 
Masha date, for Moksa and at the same time 

explained as “unlimited” (see below, same chapter, § 17). 

Prof. Przyluski was so kind as to point out to me that the 
transcription u-lan-p‘a-na must represent an original term olam- 
bana (cf. Pali olambo), corresponding with the Sanskrit word ava- 
lambana. This agrees with the Chinese translation “hanging upside 
down” (cf. Monier Williams, Sanskr.-Engl. Diet., p. 103, 2, s.v. 
ava-lambana, hanging down). 

Dr. Rahder wrote me, that in six passages of the Peta-vatthu 
and Dharamapala’s commentary on this work, entitled Paramattha- 
dtpani, words are found derived from olamb-, always in the sense 
of “hanging down”, and that in the Mahdvyutpatti avalambana 
is translated into ft (^£), to grasp (cf. Monier Williams, 1.1.: 
hanging on, clinging to) and ^ "JC , to hang down. 



Festival of the Dead {its name). 


65 


On account of these statements, which agree with the interpre- 
tation of the term u-lan-b‘an, given by Prof. Chavannes, Prof. 
Pelliot and Waddell, we consider the name of this festival of 
the dead to have been “Avalambana offering”, i.e. Sacrifice (offering 
as well as sacrificial vessel) given to those “hanging upside down”, 
i.e. the Pretas (cf. Mencius’ use of the term in the sense 

of “being in suspense”). Where the vessel is meant, as in the 
second passage translated above, the last syllable h‘an is not 
repeated but the character is used in its ideographical signification. 

Now the question remains: how must we explain the Chinese 
translation of the term u-lan~p‘a-na b‘an-tsa-na into “saving 
vessel”? Here we may accept Dr. Rahder’s ingenious hypothesis 
with regard to a Sanskrit term ullumpana bhanda(ka) or bhaj’ana, 
which he supposes to have been read by Hiien-ying and Yuen- 
chao.^nstead of avalambana bhanda(ka) or bhajana, “saving vessel” 
instead of “Preta vessel”. 

The Buddhists use the idea of “raising” (ullumpati) in the 
sense of saving as well as of “taking up into the order”, because 
it is “raising from a lower to a higher state”. ' 

The form ullumpana is found in two passages referred to by 
Dr. Rahder in favour of his interesting hypothesis. In Buddha- 
ghosha’s commentary on the Dighanikaya, called Sumahgalavi- 
lasinT (I, p. 177), the Buddha is said to be “indifferent to wordly 
pleasures, mild-hearted, with a mind full of mercy (salvation, 
ullumpanam)" in “preaching the doctrine to spread the good and 
to increase friendliness towards all living beings”. 

In Dhammapala’s commentary on the Petavattliu, entitled Pa- 
ramatthadipani (p. 35) a pet! (a female peta, Sanskrit Preta) says 

' Cf. O. Franke, Dighanikaya, p. 176, who translates ullumpatu by 
emporfiihren (lift, emporreissen), i. e. saving the Brahmans from their 
sinful state. Cullavagga X 22 (pp. 360 — 362, on the duties of BhikkunTs), 
u/tu/nputu is translated by Prof. Kern into: “taking up into the order”; Rhys 
Davids and Oldenberg render it by „raising up” (out of the worldly life) 
in the sentence: “Let the Sangha raise h^ up (out of the wordly life) out 
of compassion for her”. 


5 



66 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


to a thera; “Having been the wife of an unhappy husband in 
that village, having been jealous by nature, having done a bad 
deed, I am reborn in the peto-realm. Please, Sir, go to the house 
of my husband. He will give you a present. You must dedicate 
that dakkhina to me (“a donation given to a holy person with 
reference to unhappy beings in the peta existence, intended to 
induce the allevation of their sufferings; an intercessional, expi- 
atory offering”, according to Stede, Peta Vatthu, p. 151 sq.). 
Thus I shall be released from this peta-world”. “The theras 
(at once the plural form is used), having heard this, pitied her, 
being of a helpful disposition (full of mercy, ullumpana- 
sabhava-santhita) and visited the house of her husband in order 
to obtain alms. The landlord, having seen the theras, joyfully 
went out to meet them and, having taken the alms-bowl, let 
them sit down and caused them to eat plentiful food. The theras, 
having told the landlord what they had heard, dedicated the 
sacrificial gift to the petL At the same moment the petT was freed 
from suffering and, having assumed superb beauty, showed 
herself to her husband at night”. 

As to the Pretas, Dr. Rahder quoted the Pali-English Diction- 
ary of the Pali text Society, Part V, s. v. peta, where we read 
that petas are “the dead, departed, the departed spirits”. The 
Buddhist peta represents the Vedic pitarah (manes) as well as 
the Brahmanic preta. The first are souls of the “fathers”, the 
second ghosts. ’ By means of the dakkhina (sacrificial gift) they 
may be raised in this existence to a higher category of ma- 
hiddhika peta (alias yakkhas) or after their period of expiation 
shift into another form of existence (manussa, deva, tiracchana). 

Here we see that the meaning of the word preta is very extensive, 
and that it indicates the souls of the ancestors in particular as 
well as the spirits of the dead in general. The name of the 

' Cf. Caland, Totenverehrung, p. 22; pretas are souls which have not 
yet been taken up among the Piffiras by means of the iraddha, pinda and 
sapintITkarana ceremonies. 





Festival of the Dead {its name). 


67 


offering, destined to raise them, i.e. to save them from their 
misery and to raise them to a higher state of existence, may 
have been read ullumpana bhajana, “the raising, saving vessel” 
by some of the Chinese scholars, who translated it into 
In this case the transcription b'antsana must be a slight mistake 
for b‘atsana, perhaps caused by the words bbandaka and bhanda 
for vessel. 

With regard to the use of the character Ian, in the term 
u-lan-b‘an to designate lun of the word ullumpana Dr. Rahder 
referred to Stanislas Julien’s Methode pour dechiffrer et transcrire 
les noms sanscrits, Nos. 1718 and 1730, where the two characters 
t‘an, ^ and m. are said to have been used to represent the 
sound dun in Udurnbara. Further we may compare the use of 
the character Ian, in the word LumbinT (mwa ), given 

in th^ Bukkyo daijiten, p. 1783, 1 (also behind a labial, which 
may have been the cause of the sound a instead of u). 

The fact that this festival was never mentioned in India might 
point to Central Asia as its main place of development. ‘ It was 
a mixture of the ancient Hinduist sacrifice to the fathers and 
forefathers of seven generations with the Buddhist Pravdrana. 
The latter festival, the solemn termination of the Retreat of the 
monks during the rainy season in India, was held on two successive 
days, the 14th and 15th of the bright half-month, on which 
Uposatha was kept. It was “a festival and an occasion for giving 
presents to the monks, for inviting them to dinner, and for 
processions, immediately after the Pravarana there follows a dis- 
tribution of robes which the believers offer to the fraternity”. 
There were also illuminations at night, apparently borrowed from 
the Hinduist DTpali or "Festival of Lamps”. ^ 

' We do not believe vifith Eitel {Sanskr.-Chin. Diet. s. v.) that it is “the 
Tibetan Gtorma ritual engrafted upon Confucian ancestral worship", because it 
is much older than the Tibetan influence upon Buddhism and it has specially 
Buddhist features. 

2 Kern, Manual of Buddhism, p. 100. « 

® Kern, Histoire du Bouddhisme dans I’Inde, 11, p. 228 (210) ; I-tsing (Nanjo 



68 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Dharmaraksha I, a native of Tukhara, who during his stay 
in Loh-yang (A.D. 266—317) translated a large number of Sanskrit 
texts, probably knew the U-lan-b‘an rite by autopsy and thought 
it a very good Buddhist ceremony for the Chinese people with 
its elaborate ancestor worship. It is very interesting that, as stated 
above, in A.D. 657 people from Tukhara were entertained by 
the Japanese Empress Saimei on the 15 th of the 7th month, when 
the Urabon congregation was held (the first time that it was 
called by this name). Was perhaps Dharmaraksha’s native country 
considered to be closely connected with this festival ? 


§ 3. The contents of the Sutra (Nanjo No. 303) 
and the Pramrana festival. 

As we saw above, Hiien-ying speaks of an offering to the 
Buddha and the Sahgha, Tsung-mih, however, says that it was 
a sacrifice to the Triratna. Nanjo (Catal. Nos. 303 and 304) 
follows the former, and Oda Tokuno ^ ), the learned 

author of the BukkyS daijiten, agrees with the latter. In the sutra 
itself, however, (Nanjo No. 303) the Buddha says to Maudgalyayana, 
that his mother can only be saved from her Preta sufferings and 
obtain salvation by the majestic and divine power of the priests 
of the ten quarters ^ ^ ^ % 

mm ). There we read that one day, when the Buddha was in 
Anathapindada's Venuvana park at SravastT, Mahamaudgalyayana 
began to obtain the six abhijnas or supernatural talents (celestial 
eye, celestial ear, knowledge of the thoughts of others, know- 
ledge of former existences of one’s self and others, dominion at 

No. 1492) on the Vinaya in the “South-Sea”, Ch. ii; Oldenberg, Buddha, 
sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde, p. 425 (Pravarana, “Einladung”: 
“Ich lade, ihr EhrwUrdigen, die Gemeinde, ein: wenn ihr etwas von mir 
gesehen habt, oder gehort habt, Oder einen Verdacht gegen mich habt, habt 
Erbarmen mit mir, ihr Ehrwiirdigen, und redet. Wenn ich es einsehe, will 
ich es siihnen”. 



Nanjo No. 303 about Pravarana. 


69 


will over one’s body, and destruction of defiling passions), and 
wished to bring salvation to his father and mother and to requite 
the favours received from them as a child, when they had given 
him milk and food. Then his celestial eye saw his mother, reborn 
as a Preta, without drink and food, her body being only skin 
and bones. Full of compassion he forthwith filled his bowl with 
boiled rice and went to feed his mother, but as soon as she 
tried to eat, the food changed into fire and ashes before it reached 
her mouth. ' Weeping bitterly he hurried back to the Buddha 
and told him the matter, whereupon the Buddha said: "Your 
mother’s 'roots of crime’ are deep and complicated. You alone 
cannot help her. Although the voice of your filial piety might 
move heaven and earth, even the gods of heaven and earth, the 
wicked demons, the heterodox priests, nay even the Four Deva 
Kings cannot help her. Only by means of the majestic and divine 
power of the priests of the ten quarters may you obtain het sal- 
vation. Now I shall explain to you the way to save her, liberating 
her from all her sufferings, and causing her crimes to be extin- 
guished. On the 15 th day of the 7th month, at the time of self- 
indulgence of the priests ( ft g on behalf of those of 

the parents of seven generations and of the present parents who 
are in danger, the hundred delicacies and the five kinds of fruits, 
vessels for drawing water and washing, odorous oil and candles, 
bed-clothes and mattresses must be given to the priests of the 
ten quarters, and all kinds of delicacies of the world must be 
put in a vessel and offered to them. On this day ail the priests 
of great virtue of the ten quarters, the whole holy crowd, either 
sitting in samadhi in the mountains, or obtaining the fruit of the 
four roads (to Nirvana) {shidd-kwa}, ^ or performing peripatetic 

' As to Chinese theatrical versions of this story cf. De Groot, Fites 
annuellement celebrees a Emoiii, pp. 417 sqq.; Qrube, Zur Pekinger Volks- 
kunde, pp. 78 sqq.; Duyvendak, The Baddlystic Festival of All-Souls in China 
and Japan, Acta Orientalia, V 1, pp. 42 sq. 

2 Cf. Daijiten, p. 727, 1, s. v. shido. 



70 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


meditation under a tree, or, endowed with the independence of 
the six supernatural talents instructing and converting sravakas 
and Pratyekabuddhas, or Bodhisattvas of the ten bhumis, mani- 
festing themselves as great men or bhiksus among the large crowd, 
they all must unanimously accept the Pravarana meal 
^'i^) aiid keep the commandments of purity. The blessing 
power of the road of the holy crowd is vast and wide, and if 
those offerings are made to those self-indulgent priests, the pres- 
ent parents (and those of seven generations) as well as the six 
kinds of relatives (of the donators) shall be able to escape from 
the sufferings of the three (wicked) roads and according to the 
circumstances, as a natural result (of the ceremony), they shall 
obtain salvation, clothes and food. If the parents (of the donors) 
are still alive, they shall live a hundred years in felicity and joy; 
as to the deceased parents of seven generations, they shall be 
reborn in a heaven or, obtaining independent rebirth by trans- 
formation, enter into the light of a heavenly flower (and receive 
immeasurable happiness)”. 

Then the Buddha instructed the monks of the ten quarters 
what in the first place they had to do on behalf of the donors. 
They must recite a litany for the benefit of their parents of seven 
generations, practise meditation, and then accept the food. As 
soon as they receive it, they must place it before the Buddha; 
after the litany of the priests has been recited before the Buddha 
in the temples, they themselves may forthwith take the food. 

That day Maudgalyayana’s mother was freed from the Preta 
sufferings of one kalpa. Thereupon he spoke to the Buddha: 
“Your disciple’s mother has received (the blessing produced by) 
the blessing power of the Triratna ' and the majestic and divine 
power of the priests. Therefore, if also in future times all the 
Buddha disciples (i. e. monks, nuns and lay-members of the 
community) in accordance with this rule offer up the U-lan-b‘an 

ii 

' These words must have caused Tsung-mih to speak of a sacrifice to 
the Triratna. 



Nanjo No. 303 about Pravarana. 


71 


in order to save their present parents and those of seven genera- 
tions, shall that be allowed or not?” The Buddha praised him 
and said: If monks and nuns, kings and crown princes, ministers 
and lords, magistrates and common people practise love and 
filial piety, they must act as follows. On the 15th of the 7th 
month, the day of Buddha’s enjoyment, the day of 
sel f-i n d u 1 gen ce of the priests, they must take the 
hundred delicacies, drink and food, and put them 
in an u-lan-b‘an and distribute them to the self- 
indulgent monks of the ten quarters, on behalf of 
their present parents and of those of the seven 
former generations, wishing to cause the former 
to live a hundred years, without illness and suf- 
fering, and the latter to be saved from their Preta 
tort*ures and to be reborn in a heaven, in limitless 
felicity and joy. Those of these Buddha-disciples who 
practise filial piety must always remind their parents and those 
of the seven former generations, and yearly, on the 15th day of 
the seventh month, they must in pious remembrance of them 
make an u-lan-b‘an and distribute (the drink and 
food) to the Buddha and the Sahgha in order to re- 
quite the favour of education and love obtained from their parents. 
If all Buddha-disciples will act accordingly they must receive 
and keep this rule”. Then Maudgalyayana and the disciples of 
the four kinds (monks, nuns and iaymembers of the community, 
male and female) received the rule with joy, and went away. 

At the end of No. 304, which is a shorter text (only one leaf) 
the litany is omitted, but the meditation before taking the meal 
is mentioned. By placing the food before the Buddha it is first 
offered up to him ; then the priests take it, so that it actually 
is an offering to the Buddha and the Sahgha. 

The expression “day of self-indulgence of the priests” indicates 
the last day of the Retreat of the mcyiks. This term (jishi, i MS. 
self-indulgence) is the old translation of the word Pravarana 



72 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(#341 M. hatsuwara, harabarana), later 

translated by zui-i, ^ , “following one’s will”. ' 

Prof. Caland kindly informs me that the word pravarana is 
found in one passage of the Mahdbharata in the sense of satis- 
faction, indulgence (etymologically belonging to pravarayati). This 
agrees with the two Chinese translations, “self-indulgence” and 
“following one's will”. 

The pilgrim 1-tsing deals with the Pravarana in his work on 
the Vinaya of the “South-sea” (Nanjo No. 1492, written between 
700 and 712: ^ W ^ ^ Ch. 11). Takakusu (Ch. 

XV, p. 86) translates as follows: “The day on which the summer- 
retreat ends and the season (lit. the year) closes should be the 
Zui-i (lit. ‘according to one’s wish’ or ‘indulgence’, Pravarana), 
i.e. pointing out the faults of others, as one likes, according to 
the three points (i.e. what one has seen, what one has heard, 
and what one has suspected). Then follows confession and atone- 
ment for faults. A former translation of Pravarana was Sse-sse 
(jishi), i.e. ‘self-indulgence’ according to its sense. ^ On the night 
of the fourteenth day (the fifteenth day is the last day of the retreat), 
the assembly should invite a precentor to mount a high seat and 
recite a Buddhist Sutra, when lay devotees as well as priests 
throng together like clouds or mist. They light lamps con- 
tinually, and offer incense and flowers. The following morning 
they all go out round villages or towns and worship all the 


‘ Daijiten, p. 894, 2, s. v. jishi', p. 1423, 1, s. v. hatsuwara-, p. 1429, 3, 
s. V. harabarana. 


Takakusu refers to Mahavagga IV, 1, [14, 


where we read: “Let the senior bhikshus say: ‘i invite the Sangha to charge 
me with any offence of which they think me guilty, which they have seen, 
or heard of, or which they suspect; may you speak to me, sirs, out of pity 
towards me; if 1 see (an offence), 1 will atone for it’”. Cf. Oldenberg, 
quoted above, p. 68, note 3. 



I-tsing about Ptavarana. 


73 


caityas with sincere minds. They bring storied carriages, images 
in sedan-chairs, drums, and other music resounding in the sky, 
banners and canopies hoisted high in regular order (lit. entwined 
and arranged), fluttering and covering the sun ; this is called Sa- 
ma-kin-li (Samagri), which is translated as ‘concord’ or ‘thronging 
together’. All great Upavasatha-days are like this day. This is 
what we call in China ‘Ceremony of going around a city’. At 
the beginning of the forenoon (9 to 11 a. m.) they come back 
to the monastery, at noon they keep the great Upavasatha-ceremony, 
and in the afternoon all gather together, each taking in his hand 
a tuft of fresh rushes. Handling it with their hands or treading 
on it with their feet they do what they like, first Bhikshus, 
next Bhikshums ; then the three lower classes of the members. 
If it be feared that the time be too long owing to the largeness of 
the number, the Sahgha should order several members to go 
together and receive the Pravarana ceremony. When any offence 
has been pointed out by another, one should confess and atone 
for it according to the Law. At this time, either the laymen 
present gifts, or the Sahgha itself distributes them, 
and all sorts of gifts are brought out before the assembly. The 
five venerable persons (one each of the five Parishads (?)) should 
then ask the heads of the assembly (i.e. Sthaviras) : ‘Can these 
things be given to the members of the Sahgha and made their 
own possession, or not?’ The heads of the assembly reply: ‘Yes, 
they can’. Then all garments, knives, needles, awls, etc., are 
received and equally distributed. Such is the teaching (of the 
Buddha). The reason why they present knives and awls on this 
day is that they wish the recipients to obtain (sharp) intelligence 
and keen wisdom. When thus the Pravarana ends, all go their 
ways (lit. to east or west). If they have fully kept their residence 
in the summer there is no need of passing a night there; this 
is fully explained elsewhere, and I shall not here state it in detail. 
The idea of the ‘confession of sins’, is that, declaring one’s own 
offence and speaking of one's past faults, one will desire to alter 



74 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(i.e. atone for) past conduct and repair the future, being careful 
to condemn oneself with perfect sincerity .... Sanskrit pravdrana 
is translated by ‘(doing) as one wishes’, it also means ‘satis- 
fying’, and conveys the sense of ‘p o i n t i n g o u t another’s 
offence according to his wish’” 

* m 4v- • 

It seems that the word pravarana as well as its Chinese trans- 
lations “self-indulgence” and “following one’s will” were thus 
explained in an artificial way, because the translators did not 
take it in its original meaning of invitation (to the community, as 
Oldenberg translates it). 

As to the yearly date of the ceremony, “ this was the last day 
of the Indian rainy season, the three-monthly period of the summer- 
retreat of the Buddhist monks {Varsa, Varsika). This is th& ango 
), or u-ango{ pj| ), “rest” or “rain-rest”, dealt with 

below (Ch. IX). It ended with the full moon of Karttika, but the 
Northern Buddhists ended it on the first of that month. ^ According 
to the Chinese translators of the old school of Nan-shan, 1 1| 
(ta-shi, -h Bifj. lilh-chu, ^ , “ Vinaya master”, or liih-shi, 
^ 0ffj , i.e. Tao-siien, A.D. 596 — 667, Nanjo App. Ill 21, 

the founder of the Lilh, or Vinaya school) the Retreat began 
on the 16th day of the 4th month and ended on the 15th of 
the 7th month; the thirty days from VII 16 to VIII 15 formed 
the month Karttika The translators of the new 


' J. Takakusu’s translation of A Record of the Buddhist Religion as practised 
in India and the Malay archipelago (A.D. 671 — 695), by I-tsing (Oxford 
1896), Ch. XV, pp. 86 sqq. 

^ Cf. Caland, Totenverehrung, pp. 43 sqq., about the pretas and pitaras 
leaving the house of Yama on the 13*^ day in the dark half of Asvina 
and under Magha in the rainy season, remaining on earth till the appearance 
of the Scorpion; tortured by hunger and announcing their own sins they 
want offerings of rice-gruel, mixeS with honey, from their sons and grandsons. 

® Kern, Manual of Buddhism, pp. 80 sq. 



First dates of Avalambana in China. 


75 


school (of Hiien-tsang, A.D. 600 — 664^ and 1-tsing, A.D. 635 — 713), 
however, considered the Retreat to last from V 16 to VIll 15, 
and Karttika from VIII 16 to IX 15. ‘ But the date of the Avalambana 
festival always remained the same as of old: the 15th of the 
7th month, 

§ 4. The first dates in China. 

In China the Avalambana festival was held for the first time in 
A.D. 538 (Ta-t'ung 4) by the Emperor Wu Ti ( (AD. 

502 — 549) of the Liang dynasty, who in person went to the 
T‘ung-t‘ai monastery ( |^ ^ ^)) erected by him in A.D. 521, 
N.E. of his capital Kien-k‘ang (Nanking), where he used to cele- 
brate many Buddhist festivals. It was called a “vegetarian enter- 
tainment” (U-lam-ban-chai, ^^). " 

Many emperors followed his example. In A.D. 766 (Ta-li I) 
the Emperor Tai-tsung (f(^ ^) (to whom Amoghavajra in A.D. 
771 presented his translations of Buddhist texts) held an “Avalam- 
bana-meeting” {U-lani-ban-hwui, in the Palace, in honour 

of his seven predecessors, beginning with Kao-tsung (A.D. 650 — 683), 
for whom seven thrones and seven gigantic banners with their 
imperial names were erected (evidently in accordance with the 
Avalambana sutra as regards the ancestors of seven generations). 
From then this palace festival was celebrated every year, as we 
read in the Shih-shi kien-ki-ku lioh, , a brief 

history of Buddhism, written in Annal form, by the Buddhist 
priest Kioh-gan, ^ , who finished it about A.D. 1341.® 

' Daijiten p. 194, 2, s. v. Kacfiina (Kaltnna was the raw cotton cloth 
of the robes, distributed to the priests in this month, immediately after 
the Pravarana, cf. Kern, Manual, p. 100). 

^ Nanjo No. 1661, (written about A. D. 1269—1271), 

Ch. 18; 33. 

^ Quoted in the Wakan sansai zue, , written in 

1713 by Terajima Ryoan, and based upon the Chinese 

encyclopaedia San-ts‘ai t'u-hwui, = ® #> written by Wang K’i, 

S #f , A.D. 1586 — 1627; Ch. IV, s. v. Urabon. 



76 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 5. The contents of the Tantric sutras and kalpas on 
distributing drink and food to the Pretas 
(Nanjo Nos. 539, 984, 985, 1467). 

A. The different texts. 


Afterwards the character of the festival was changed by Tantric 
and Taoist influences. It was intermixed with the Tantric Shi- 
ngo-kwei {segaki), or “Distributing (drink and food) 

to the Pretas”, based upon the Tantric texts Nanjo Nos. 539, 
984, 985 and 1467. 


Nanjo No. 539, 

Buddhabhashita-jvalamukha-preta-paritrana-dharany-rddhimantra- 
sutra, “Sutra spoken by the Buddha on the dharanis and rddhi- 
mantras for saving the pretas”, was translated in A.D. 695—700 
by Sikshananda, a sramana of Khotan (App. 11 145) 

(3 leaves ; it agrees with Tibetan). 

Nanjo No. 984, ^ ^ M M "Sutra, 

spoken by the Buddha on the dharanis for saving the pretas”, 
is the same text, translated A.D. 746 — 771 by Amoghavajra, 
4^ |i|lj (App. II 155), the famous Indian propagator of 
the Tantric School in China (4 leaves). 

Amoghavajra also translated No. 985, ^ g tSfe W H 

Yoga-mahartha-sahgraha-Ananda- 
paritrana-dharanT-Jvalavaktra {preta)-kalpa-sutra, containing many 
mudrds to be used in saving the pretas by means of magic for- 
raulae (1 fasc.), and No. 1467, 'VUI 

“The reason why (the Buddha) instructed 


Ananda with regard to the distribution of food to the Pretas, 
belonging to the collection of important Yoga matters”. The other 
title of this work (its second part), mentioned in Nanjo’s Catalogue, 
is “Ceremonial Rules for giving food to the 

Pretas {“Flaming Mouths"). (1 fasc., 42 leaves). In one of the 
two appendices the ten kinds of Pretas, here called i-e- 



Tantric texts on Preta feeding. 77 

“solitary, neglected, orbate spirits”, are treated (fallen in battle, 
drowned in rivers or at sea, having died abroad or in prison, etc.). 
A fourth work from his hand is the “Ceremonial Rules for dis- 
tributing drink, food and water to the Pretas” ^ ^ 

§ 5, B. The Stitra on the dharanTs for saving the Pretas 
(Nanjo No. 984). 

The contents of No. 984 (this translation gives the names of 
the four Buddhas, omitted in No. 539, Sikshananda’s translation) 
are as follows. Once upon a night, when Ananda was alone in 
a quiet place, a Preta appeared to him. His name was “Flaming 
MouUi”, his shape was ugly, his body withered and emaciated, 
and he had fire in his mouth. His throat was (thin) like needles 
and spear points, the hair of his head was entangled, his claws 
and teeth were long and sharp. Much to Ananda’s alarm he 
announced to him that he should die after three days and be 
reborn among the Pretas. When Ananda asked him how he could 
escape this frightful fate, the Preta answered : “If to-morrow you 
give one bushel (as used in Magadha) of drink and food to each 
of the numberless Pretas and Brahman-rsis, and if on my behalf 
you make an offering to the Triratna, your life shall be length- 
ened and 1 shall be freed from the sufferings of the Pretas and 
be reborn in a heaven”. The next day Ananda threw himself at 
the feet of the Buddha and asked him how he could give food 
to all those Pretas and Rsis. The Buddha replied that he could 
do so by reciting the dharani called 

^ No. 539, p. 2a it is called — ■ ^ ^ 

^ ^ ^ M Nos. 985, p. 2a, and 1467, p. 2a Muryo itoku 
jizai kwomyo Nyorai darani ho, the first eight characters being 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 1025, s. v. Segakcho. 



78 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the same as in No. 984, followed by ^ ^ ^ ^)- By 

reciting this formula he would cause each of the numberless Pretas 
and Brahman-rs/s ' to obtain seven times seven Magadha bushels 
of food No. 539, p. 2a: i. e. 

49 pecks, one bushel holding ten pecks). The Buddha had received 
this dhdrani in a former life, when he was a Brahman in the 
land of the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara and in that of the Buddha 
lifciffl Seken Jizai Itoku Nyorai, for which reason 

he was able to distribute all kinds of drink and food to the 
numberless Pretas and jRsis, and to cause the salvation of the 
Pretas from their miseries, and their rebirth in a heaven. “Ananda”, 
said the Buddha, “if you now receive and keep (this dhdram), 
your felicity, virtue and life shall all be increased”. Then the 
Buddha explained the formula (consisting of 20 characters) to 
him, and added that if a virtuous man or woman wished to in- 
crease his or her life, felicity and virtue, they should take a pure 
vessel, fill it with pure water, parched barley flour, rice-cakes 
and cooked rice, and, holding it in the right hand, they should 
recite the afore-mentioned dharani seven times, and then invoke 
the four following Buddhas: 

1. Taho Nyorai, “Many Treasures”, i.e. Pra- 

bhutaratna, the Buddha who according to the Lotus Sutra {Hokkekyo, 
Ch. IV, ^ ^ t5|i) in remote times lived in an Eastern world, 

called Ratnavisuddha, “Precious Purity” (^ and who, ac- 
cording to his original vow, after entering Nirvana appeared in 
all countries and in all places where the Lotus sutra was expounded, 
in his full shape as a relic in his pagoda, testifying to the Lotus. 
Thus his seven-storied pagoda, containing his Buddha-shaped 


' Baramon-sen, , also called , Hanten 

Baramon, a kind of Pretas, cf. Daijiten, p. 1455, 2, s. v. Baramonsen, and 
p. 1437, 2, s. V. Hanten Baramon. Cf. Eitel s. v. Richi: Prefarsis, 

the fifth of the five classes of rsis ; 10 and 68 kinds of rsis are enumerated in 
the Daijiten, p. 1037 s. v. 



Buddhas invoked in feeding Pretas. 


79 


relic, suddenly appeared from beneath the earth and rose into 
the air, when Sakyaniuni was expounding the Lotus sutra on the 
Vulture Peak, and his voice was heard, praising Sakyamuni and 
testifying to the Lotus. Then the Buddha explained which Buddha 
it was, who thus manifested himself as the patron of the Lotus sutra. ' 

The invocation of this Buddha can destroy the obstacles caused 
by the evil deeds of all demons and cause their complete feli- 
city and virtue. 

2. Myoshikishin Nyorai, ^ ^ , Surupakdya Tatha- 

gata, the Buddha “Beautiful-Shape Body” (like Prabhutaratna one 
of the Seven Buddhas (Sapfa Tathagata), whose names are 
inscribed on a hectagonal pillar ( in Buddhist 

temples. ■ This invocation can destroy the ugly shape of the 
demons and give them a beautiful appearance. In the Segaki no 
ho ths Eastern Buddha of the Five Buddhas, Aksobhya, is called 
by this name; this is however not based upon this text, but upon 
the “Ceremonial Rules for distributing drink, food and water to 
the Pretas", also translated by Amoghavajra. ^ 

3. Kwbhakushin Nyorai, The TathSgata 

“Wide and Vast Body”, Vyasakaya, whose invocation can make 
the (very narrow) throats of the demons wide and large, so that 
they can eat the food distributed to them and satisfy their hunger. 
The fact that the three other Buddhas belong to the Seven Ta- 
thagatas, enumerated by Eitel (different from the so-called Seven 
Buddhas of the Past Bukkyo daijiten, p. 739, 1), and 

that in No. 985 those Seven Tathagatas are invoked, makes it 
very probable that this Buddha is the same as Vyasa, ^ 

filj A- In the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 324, 2), however, he is said 
to be Dai-Nichi Nyorai, Mahavairocana, the central and main 
figure of the Five Buddhas, whose shape is wide and vast. This 

■ Cf. Daijiten, p. 1115, 3 and 1116, 2, s. v. Tahoto and Taho Nyorai-, 
p. 1387, 3, s. V. Hokuraran {Bahularatna) -, p. 1430, 1, s. v. Harabuta-rata- 
naya\ Daijii 111, p. 3256, s. v. Tafiotb and Tahb Butsu. 

- Cf. Eitel s. V. Sapfa Tathagata. 

3 Cf. Daijiten, p. 1729, 1 s. v. Myoshikishin Nyorai ; p. 1024, 3 s. v. segaki-ho. 



80 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


is based upon a passage of the ^ Hizoki {Pi-tsang ki) * 

and belongs to the invocation of the Five Buddhas on behalf 
of the Pretas. 

4. Rifu'i Nyorai, The Tathagata “Rid of 

Fear”, Abhayamdada (“Giver of Fearlesness”), also one of the 
Seven Tathagatas, enumerated by Eitel. His invocation can liberate 
the demons from all fear and save them from the Preta path. In 

the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1791, 1) he is said to be Sakyamuni, 

one of the Five Buddhas of the Segaki-hd, whose place is in 

the North. It is curious that here Sakyamuni takes the place of 

Amoghasiddhi, the fifth of the Five Wisdom Buddhas, the Gochi 
Nyorai, or “Tathagathas of the Five kinds of 

Wisdom” of the Kongokai or “Diamond World,” - at the same 
time representing the Five Elements ( ^ Godai) of the 

Taizokai or “Womb World,” namely Earth, Water, Fire, :Wind 
(Air) and Ether (i^fe ;?[C M, •^)- This is also the case in the 
enumeration of the five bodies of the Five Buddhas, where 
Sakyamuni is the “Body of Transformation,” , sahen 

keshin \ 

If one invokes these four Buddhas seven times, jerking his 
fingers in incantation, then takes a vessel of food and, stretching 
his arm, pours it on a pure spot and distributes it to the four 
sides, each of the numberless Pretas receives seven times seven 
Magadha bushels of food, and after having been entirely satiated 
they all throw off their demon bodies and are reborn in a heaven. 
If monks and nuns and laymembers of the community, male and 
female, by means of this magic formula and the incantation {kaji, 
of the names of the four Buddhas always distribute 
food to the Pretas, they may forthwith obtain immeasurable felicity 

‘ Although the Bukkyo daijiten caWs ih\s vfoiV. HizokihoniJPi-tsang ki-pdn, 
), it must be identical with the Hizoki referred to below, Ch. V, § 2, 
L 2, and mentioned in the Himitsu-Jirin, p. 896, s. v. Hizoki. 

2 Daijiten, p. 550, s. v. Gochi and Gochi-Nyorai. 

^ Daijiten, p. 566, 2, s. v, Gobutsu goshin. 



Buddhas invoked in feeding Pretas. 


81 


and virtue. This has the same blessing power as an offering 
to numberless Buddhas; it lengthens life, increases physical 
strength and gives plenty of “virtuous roots”, so that no evil 
demon dares to hurt them. 

If one wishes to make an offering to the Brahman-rsis, he 
must fill one vessel with drink and food, and, after having made 
two times seven incantations by means of the afore-said magic 
formula and Buddha names, he mast throw it into a pure stream. 
Then all those rsis shall fulfill their original vow of bestowing 
long life, physical power, peace and joy upon those who give 
them food, and to make their insight clear and pure. This has 
also the same blessing power as an offering to the numberless 
Buddhas, so that no enemies can hurt them. 

If monks, nuns or lay-members wish to make an offering to 
the ^Triratna, they must take incense, flowers, and pure drink 
and food, and offer it up after having made twenty one incantations 
as mentioned above (the magic formula and the invocation of 
the four Buddhas). Then they shall be protected by all the devas 
and good spirits and reach the Dana-paramita ( 
dan-baramitsu), the first of the six or ten steps on the road to 
Nirvana, that of charity {dana, fuse). 


§ 5, C. The Ananda-paritrana-dharani-preta-kalpa-sutra 
(Nanjo No. 985). 

In No. 985 the Buddha says to Ananda, that the dharanT and 
incantations, repeated seven times, cause the drink and food 
offered up to the Pretas to be changed into amrta{-^ kanro, 
„sweet dew”). By means of mudras and magic formulae the hells 
are opened, the pretas are invited, their crimes invoked and urged 
(i.e. their requital is accelerated), their karma is fixed, their crimes 
are extinguished by repentance, their bodies embellished, and 
their throats opened. Then the following seven Buddhas are 
invoked : 


6 



82 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


1. Hosho Nyorai, “Precious Conqueror”, Ratna- 

sikha. ‘ According to the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1583, 2) it is Rat na- 
sambhava {Hosho, one of the Five Wisdom-Buddhas, 

invocated in the Segaki-ho or “Rite of giving food to the Pretas”, 
who rules the South. He is called Sakyamuni’s original teacher, 
and Amitabha's merciful father. 

2. Rifui Nyorai, Abhayarndada, the Giver 

of Fearlessness, mentioned above as the last of the four Buddhas, 
invoked in No. 984. As the last of the Five Wisdom Buddhas 
(Sakyamuni instead of Amoghasiddhi) he rules the North. 

3. Kwohakushin Nyorai, “Wide and Vast 

Body”, Vydsakdya, who widens the throats of the Pretas. The 
third of the four Buddhas of No. 984, the central figure of the 
Five Wisdom Buddhas, Mahdvairocana, ruler of the Centre. 

4. MyOshikishin Nyorai, ^ ^ ^ , “Beautifully shaped- 

Body”, Surupakaya, mentioned above as the second of the four 
Buddhas of No. 984, who gives the Pretas a beautiful appearance. 
He is the Eastern figure of the Five Wisdom-Buddhas, i. e. 
Aksobhya. 

5. Taho Nyorai, Many Treasures”, Prabhuta- 

ratna, the first of the four Buddhas of No. 984, not belonging 
to the Five Wisdom Buddhas. 

6. Amida Nyorai, Amitabha, the Western 

figure of the Five Wisdom-Buddhas. He gives rebirth in his 
Western Paradise, where the souls are born from lotusses by 


means of transformation, in a land without retrogression upon 
the road to Nirvana 

7. Seken kwodai itoku jizai kwomyo Nyorai, 
lii “The Tathagata who in the worlds 

(displays) a wide and great majesty and blessing power, inde- 


‘ Cf. Rosenberg, Introduction to the study of Buddhism, I, Vocabulary, 
p. 149, 2, s. V. Hosho. 

“ Cf. Rosenberg, 1.1., p. 130,2, s. v. Mydshikishin: Surukaya. Dr. Rahder 
prefers Surupakaya. 



Buddhas invoked in feeding Pretas. 


83 


pendence (i. e. miraculous power), and light (of wisdom)”. Thus 
the name is explained in the text. When comparing it with Eitel’s 
list of the Sapta Tathagata, it must be Amrtodana Raja, 

“King who feasts on ambrosia”, but “ Amrta-kin^’ 
is the well-known title of Amitabha, ' who manifesting himself 
and preaching the Law has a blessing power like a rain of amrta. 
Therefore Amitabha is invoked by the name of Kanro-o, “Amrta- 
king” , among the Five Wisdom Buddhas, mentioned in the cere- 
monial rules of the Segaki-ho, whereas Ratnasambhava is called 
“Ruler of Treasures”, ^ Hosho Nyorai (cf. the first of the 
seven Buddhas mentioned in this text). 

In No. 984 we found Seken Jizai Itoku Nyorai mentioned as 
the Buddha in whose land Sdkyamuni in a former life, when he 
was a Brahman, received the dharani by means of which all 
kinds "of drink and food could be distributed to the Pretas, and 
their salvation and rebirth in a heaven could be caused. 

§ 5, D, The Kalpa for distributing food to the Pretas 
(Nanjd No. 1467, 2). 

The same seven Buddhas are invoked in the second part of 
No. 1467, the ^ ^ ^ 'jig P M ^ 

monial rules') for distributing food to the Pretas”, at the end of 
which the “venerable and excelling dharani of Buddha’s usnisa,” 
the excrescence of his skull, ^ ^ ^ ^ (cf. Nos. 

348 — 351, 796) is given in Devanagari writing and Chinese tran- 
scription. These invocations are preceded by the eight mudras 
for opening the hells, inviting the pretas, etc., mentioned above 
(No. 985), all given in picture and accompanied by magic for- 
mulae in Devanagari and Chinese characters. It is a typical and 
interesting Tantric text, with extensive explanations in small type. 
The names of the mudras are also given in Devanagari. In the 
same way seven mudras and formulae accompany the names of 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 220, 1 s. v. Kanro-o. 



84 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the seven Buddhas, and six other madras close the row, thus 
forming the number of twenty one (three times seven) in all. In 
the beginning of the second part the Triratna, Sakyamuni, Ami- 
tabha and 34 other Buddhas are invoked. 

If we reflect upon the contents of the different texts concerning 
the ceremony of feeding the Pretas, we find that they differ 
mainly in the numbers of the special Buddhas invoked, which 
are four, five (according to the ceremonial rules referred to by 
the Bukkyo daijiten) and seven. The two former numbers are 
those of the four or five quarters, whereas seven is the holy 
number par excellence, also used with regard to the incantations, 
mudras and bushels of drink and food, obtained by the Pretas. 

§ 5, E. Amoghavajra propagated the Preta-feeding ceremony 
in China (A.D. 746 — 771), which ivas mixed up with the 
U-lan-b'an festival. 

It is evident that it was Amoghavajra who propagated the 
Segaki ceremony in China, which was mixed up with the earlier 
Avalambana festival and in its new form spread throughout the 
country. Afterwards the same process took place in Japan, and 
in both countries the festival of the dead, celebrated in the seventh 
month of the old calendar, is a mixture of the two ceremonies: 
the offering of food to the Buddha and the Sarigha 
for the sake of the deceased parents of seven ge- 
nerations (originally also on behalf of the living parents, that 
they might enjoy a long, happy and healthy life), and on the 
other hand the Segaki or offering of food to the Pretas. 

§ 6. The “All Souls” Festival in China at the present day. 

There must, however, be a third element in the “All Souls” 
Festival of the present day in China and Japan. Eitel (s.v. Ul- 
lambana) describes it as follows : “The festival of all souls 



“All Souls'’ festival in China. 


85 


(gH, tsiao), as now annually held in China during the seventh 
moon, when Buddhist (and Taoist) priests read masses to 
release from purgatory the souls of those who died on land or 
sea, scatter rice to feed Prefas, consecrate domestic an- 
cestral shrines, burn paper clothes, on the beach or in boats, 
for the benefit of those who were drowned ( ), and 

recite Yoga Tantras (such as are collected in the 
^ pi ^ > translated by Amoghavajra, A.D. 746 — 771), ac- 

companied by magic fingerplay {Mudra) to comfort ancestral 
spirits of seven generations in purgatory (Naraka). This 
is done in temporary sheds in which statues of the popular 
Buddhist deities, groups of statuettes representing scenes from 
Chinese history, dwarf plants, silk festoms, chandeliers and lamps 
are brought together in a sort of annual religious exhibition, 
enlivened by music and fire works, the principal ceremonies being 
performed at midnight (especially on the 15th day of 
the 7th moon). The expenses of the priests and the exhibition 
are defrayed by local associations (;^ levying contri- 

butions on every shop and household, the whole performance 
being supposed to exorcize the evil spirits which otherwise would 
work financial and sanitary ruin in the neigbourhood, besides 
giving every individual an opportunity of obtaining the inter- 
cessory prayers of the priests for the benefit of his own deceased 
ancestors or relatives”. In Eitel’s opinion the Chinese ceremonial 
is the Tibetan Gtorma ritual (“strewing oblations”) engrafted 
upon Confucian ancestral worship. “This agrees”, he says, “with 
the known fact that a native of Tukhara, Dharmaraksha I (A.D. 
265 — 316), introduced into China and translated the Ullambana 
sutra, which gives the whole ceremonial the (forged) authority 
of Sakyamuni”. 

We learn from Prof. Caland {Totenverehrung, pp. 45 sq.) that 
the idea of the pretas and pitaras leaving Yama’s house is an 
ancient Indian conception. The sources giving different details, 
the calculation of the time of this period and of the offering 



86 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


ceremonies is uncertain, but they were said to leave their abode 
on the 13th day of the dark half of Asvina (or another month) 
and under Magha in the rainy season. The appearance of the 
Scorpion is the sign for them to return to their dark home ; they 
are very hungry and, announcing their own sins, they want rice- 
gruel, mixed with honey, from their sons and grandsons during 
their stay on earth, especially on that thirteenth day, but also 
during the whole dark half of the month. Here we have the 
prototype of the Chinese festival of the dead. 

Prof, de Groot gives a very interesting description of the whole 
ceremony in his “Fetes annuellement celebrees a Emoui”. ' There 
we read that the hell is opened in the evening of the first day 
of the seventh month; the hungry spirits are invited, and wine, 
food, paper clothes and paper money are offered up to them 
on tables placed before the doors of the houses; incense is burned 
and candles are lighted to show the spirits the way. During the 
whole month a square lantern is lighted before each door, called 
lo-ting, mm, or road-lantern. The main festival, however, takes 
place on the 15th of the month (or, in the towns, for the sake 
of convenience, on different days in different quarters). Then three 
or five priests, clad in ceremonial dresses and accompanied by 
musicians and people who carry banners and lanterns, go along 
the streets, and, stopping at each door where an offering-table 
is set up, they light incense and distribute the food and drink 
to the pretas by means of the magic formula, mentioned in the 
above-mentioned texts. Thereupon the inhabitants make offerings 
of paper clothes, incense, wine and food to the spirits, and finally 
have a feast themselves. The principal ceremony, however, is 
celebrated in the temples, where a large altar is erected with 
all kinds of food; among other paper objects an enormous paper 
image of a male deity, considered to be the ruler of the demons 
or an incarnation of Kwanyin, the Saviour from Hell, is set up. 


> Annates da Musee Guimet, XII, VoL II, pp. 420 sqq. 



“All Souls'’ festival in China, 


87 


and theatrical performances are given, especially that of Maud- 
galyayana’s visit to his mother in hell. By means of the magic 
formulae, mentioned in the texts on the Feeding of Pretas, the 
offerings are multiplied, the spirits saved, the Buddhas (and Kwanyin, 
although not spoken of in the texts) invoked. Finally, all the paper 
objects are burned, among them the images of the king of the 
demons and of Yama with his two attendants, and the food offerings 
plundered by the crowd, who apparently considers them to be 
lucky food. Sometimes even children have their special festival, 
celebrated in the same way on a small scale. On the last day 
of the month the hell is closed and the offering tables are set 
up at the doors for the last time; in some quarters even a second 
great sacrifice takes place on that day. 

On a smaller scale this autumnal festival is repeated in the 
feeding of the pretas in the evening of the last (the fourth) day 
of the ordinary masses for the dead, described in extenso by 
De Groot in his “Buddhist Masses for the dead at Amoy (Leyde, 
1884; § 3, pp. 86 sqq.). “This all, however, is done on behalf 
of the spirits of the land alone. Those which live on and in the 
water should be evoked in a special manner. Mostly, some 
Taoist priests are engaged for the purpose. Accompanied by 
some of the mourners, a band of musicians, and a few coolies 
who carry a number of small earthen bowls, each containing some 
oil or preparation of pitch wherein a wick is swimming, they 
repair to the edge of the nearest running water, or, at Amoy, 
which is a sea-port, to the nearest jetty on the shore. Arrived 
there, each bowl is placed in a cheap earthen vessel, around 
the brim of which paper imitations of the lotus or some other 
flower are affixed ; and thereupon the lamps are lighted, 
with the vessels placed on the surface of the water 
and so allowed to float off. Small lanterns of paper and 
bamboo, each with a lighted candle within and planted by 
means of a short stick, attached underneath, in some sand or 
earth which has been placed in the bottom of the vessels, some- 



88 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


times take the place of the lamps described- When the vessels 
are floating away, the priests repeat certain incantations, beat 
their gongs and cymbals, and blow their horns, all to inform the 
spirits that they are desired to allow themselves to be lighted 
to the place of entertainment”. After having welcomed the in- 
visible guests, the procession returns home with burning lanterns. 
“This curious ceremony, which is performed especially for the 
convenience of the manes of persons who drowned or died 
abroad, is called ^ ^ “to launch water-lamps” .... “The 
ceremonies on behalf of the pretas, already described, are almost 
always performed between sunset and midnight. This is 
because the spirits are believed to dislike the day-time, as the 
influences, which then prevail, are more powerful than those of 
the night, to which spirits are, naturally, subject”. 

We may add that the water-lamp ceremony, as we learn from 
the Japanese Bon festival, also belongs to the great festi- 
val of the seventh month, and that the spirits of those 
who were drowned in rivers or at sea, or who died abroad, are 
the fourth and sixth of the ten kinds of Pretas, enumerated at 
the end of NanjO No. 1467. The Pretas are also divided into 
two main categories, namely those who live in the world 
of men and appear to them on the road at night, and 
those who live in hell, 50 yojanas beneath the earth. ’ 

§ 7. The Bon festival in Japan at the present day. 

In japan the days of the festival are only from the 13th to the 
16th of the seventh month (in the country from the 13th to the 
16th of Aug., because there the old Chinese calendar is still in 
vogue with regard to such ancient ceremonies). In the evening 
of the 13th a small fire is lighted before the doors, in order to 
show the way to the spirits, and again in the evening of the 16th, 
when they are supposed to return to hell. Incense powder is 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 225, 3, s. v. gaki; Daij'ii, I, p. 538, 1, s. v. gakidd. 



The Bon festival in Japan. 


89 


strewn into the fire, and food offerings, after the feastwrapped 
up in mats and thrown into a river, are placed upon an 
altar, specially erected in a room, where a priest reads masses 
for the dead. The graves have been cleansed beforehand by the 
relatives of the deceased and adorned with flower offerings, whilst 
lanterns are lighted to show them the way. In the temples the priests 
read masses for the souls of those whose relatives come and 
light incense sticks on the altar and on the graves, as well as 
for those who have no family to care for them. During those 
days only vegetarian food (rice cakes, vegetables etc.) is eaten. ‘ 
During the five years of my stay in Japan I repeatedly saw this 
festival in Hakone, where we lived in the Jodo temple Hongenji 
and had to leave the main hall during those three days. In the 
evening small lights were seen floating upon the water of the 
beautiful Ashi lake, which agrees with the Chinese custom described 
by Professor de Groot; also along the sea shore (as in China) 
such lights are made to float upon the waves. 

Chamberlain ^ describes the festival as follows. “This is the 
great Buddhist festival of Bon, which is often termed by foreigners 
the Feast of Lanterns, but might better be rendered as All Souls’ 
Day. The spirits of dead ancestors then visit the altar sacred to 
them in each household, and special offerings of food are made 
to them. The living restrict themselves to maigre dishes as 
far as possible. The ceremony of “opening the river” {kawa- 
biraki), as it is called, generally takes place in Tokyo about 
this time. The spectacle is a delightful one. Half the town goes 
out on the River Sumida in boats gaily decked with lan- 
terns, while fireworks and music add to the gaiety of the evening. 
The rural population of most parts of the empire celebrate the 
festival by a dance known as Bon-odori It is usual 

for masters to fee their servants at the Bon season. This should 

' Cf. Lange, in Chantepie de la Saussaye’s Lehrbuch der Religionsge- 
schichte, 3® ed., pp. 137 sq. 

^ Things Japanese, s. v. Festivals, July 13 — 16. 



90 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan: 


be done not later than the 1 3th”. In another passage of his ex- 
cellent work {Things Japanese) ‘ he describes the bon-odori as 
follows. “The details vary from village to village; but the general 
feature of this dance is a large circle or wheel of posturing peasants, 
who revolve to the notes of the song sung and the flute and 
drum played by a few of their number in the middle. Kyoto and 
Tokyo, being too civilised for such rustic exercises in which all 
share, do their dancing by proxy”. In the towns this festival 
takes place according to the new calendar (July 13 — 16), but in 
the country in the middle of August, this being the seventh 
month of the old Chinese lunar calendar. We may be sure that 
the lanterns of the kawa-biraki (so often represented by the 
Ukiyo~e masters in the ancient Japanese colour-prints) are the 
lights of the Avalambana festival. 

The Kokushi daijiten (p. 323, s. v. Urabon) gives an interesting 
account of the history of the Urabon {gu) ('^t), or Urabon-e 
or Bon, or Shoryo-matsuri ()^ ^ ^, “Offering to the 
Vital Spirits (of the dead)”. The Shoryo-dana ^tS9) is the 
shelf or stand on which the ofierings of drink and food to the 
deceased relatives are placed. According to this author the 14tli 
day was the date when the Japanese Emperor, seated upon a 
round rush-mat, made obeisance (to the Buddha and the Sahgha), 
but this did not take place when the Emperor was a child. In 
the Muromachi period (A.D. 1392 — 1490) the Urabon-e was held 
during three days, from the 14^ti to the 16th. At the time 
of the (1603 — 1867) the Shogun’s family offered lanterns 

{toro, ^ ) in the Palace, and ate cooked rice of the new 
crop, wrapped up in lotus leaves and prepared by the Okusa 
family ( ). At the same time the people celebrated the 

festival from the 13th to the 16th day, but the 15th was 
the principal day of the Shdryb-matsuri. On the 12th there was 
a market called Kusa no ichi (m rt) or Bon no ichi (^ rU), 
where people bought the tamadana (^^^30) or “soul-shelves” 

' Ibid., s. V. Dances. 



The Bon festival in Japan. 


91 


(the shoryo-dand) and ornaments for the festival. On the 13th 
all classes of the population erected those altars and spread 
makomo (Indian rice or water oats) upon them; in front 

of these they erected two bamboo pillars, one on the left and 
one on the right, adorned at the top with undulating vermicelli 
(somen, ^ ^)- The vessels of cooked rice were placed on 
kuge-dai (i. e. sambo-dai), wooden offering stands, and tea, fruits, 
incense and flowers were offered, lanterns (kiriko-dord, lanterns 
of a cubical form with square corners) were lighted, Buddhist priests 
invited to read the sutra, and thus the souls of the ancestors 
were worshipped. That night fires of hemp-stalks were lighted 
(the mukae-bi, |[fl or “welcome-fires”, mentioned below, 

§ 10, p. 105) in order to welcome the spirits, and again in the 
night of the 16th (the okuri-bi, ^ or “seeing-off fires”), 
to ^nd them home. The 15th day (the principal day of the 
festival) was called Chugen ( JC ) (cf. below Chung-yiien, 
pp. 97 sqq); then all classes ate hasu-meshi (^^), i. e. rice 
wrapped in hasu (lotus) leaves and steamed, and sashi-saba 
salted mackerels strung on a bamboo stick. In 
many respects this description of the festival in the Tokugawa 
days may also apply to the present day. ^ 

' Cf. also Kokumin nenja gyoji, Das Jahr itn Erleben des Volkes, iiber- 
setzt von Barghoorn, Keyssner, Van der Laan, Rudolf und Simonis, Tokyo 
1926 (Deutsche Ges. f. Nat. und Volkerkunde Ostasiens, pp. 165 sqq.). A 
recent Japanese newspaper gives the following description. 

“The Bon season officially began yesterday this year, although the 
country folks still observe it according to the lunar calendar. The season 
lasts three days during which the spirits of the departed are received 
at home, and food and other sacrifices are offered to them during their 
short visit to their former abode. Early in the morning of tbe first day 
of the Bon season, the members of a family make a visit to the family 
graveyard, and bring the spirits of the dead home. ‘We have come to 
welcome you to your former home this morning’, they would say towards 
the silent tombs. ‘Please come and follow us to your old home’. 

When the welcoming party reaches home, the doors of the house are 
opened and the spirits of the dead are first led inside and are placed 
upon the family altar. Children are told not to cry while the spirits of 



92 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 8. The Hindu Divdli and the Taoist Chung-yuen festival. 

A. The Indian Feast of Lamps. 

It is remarkable that light plays such an important part in 
the Buddhist festival of the dead in China and Japan, whereas the 
Avalambana and Preta-feeding texts, referred to above, are all silent 
on this part of the ceremony! Only in one passage (Nanjo No. 985, 
p. 5a), where the offerings are enumerated, lamps are mentioned 
together with water, incense water, flowers, clay (used for making 
small pagodas as offerings), drink and food, hot water and me- 
dicine, but nowhere in the texts is their special use as guides 
of the Pretas spoken of. Thus we must seek the reason of 
the great importance of light in the Chinese and Japanese All 
Souls' festival in other Indian or Chinese festivals, which are 
mixed up with the two ceremonies treated above. 

Although it evidently has no connection with the so-called 
Mando-e, or “Ten thousand Lamps meetings”, cele- 

brated in temples in honour of the Buddha (cf. below, Ch. 
Vll, §§ 4 — 8), there is another Indian lantern festival which, al- 
though not Buddhistic, may have been identified by the Tantric 
priests with the Taoist Chung-yuen festival and mixed up with 
the Buddhist rites for the dead. Originally I considered the lights 
of the Chinese and Japanese Avalambana to be due to the Taoist 
Chung-yuen rites, performed on the same day (VII 15), but when 
my friend Dr. W. F. Stutterheim directed my attention to the 
Hindu DtvalT or “Feast of Lamps”, I became aware of the fact 
that also with respect to the lights Indian ideas must have 

their forefathers are staying in the house, and the master of the family 
is most strict in enforcing the family regulations. At the end of the season 
the spirits are again led back to the graves and told to rest there until 
the next season. 

It maybe said that this practice is a Buddhistic form of Japanese ancestor 
worship, for it shows our people’s reverence and love towards their ancestors 
who have long ago departed from this world”. 



The Indian Feast of Lamps (Divali). 93 

played an important part in creating the Chinese Buddhist festival 
of the dead. 

Dr. Stutterheim referred to the Sanskrit-English Dictionary 
(Oxford 1899) of Monier Williams (p. 481), where we read s, v. 
dTpalJ-. “'a row of lights’, a festival with illuminations on the day 
of new moon in the month Asvtna or Karttika”, and s.v. dTpotsava : 
“a festival of lights.” He further quoted another work of the same 
author, entitled “Brahmanism and Hinduism” (London 1887) 
(p. 432), where the DivalT (properly DlpalT or DipavalT) is de- 
scribed as follows. “Divali, ‘the feast of lamps’, is observed twenty 
days after the Nava-ratra (the autumnal equinoctial festival) on 
the last two days of the dark half of Asvina, and on the new 
moon and four following days of Karttika, in honour of Vishnu’s 
wife LakshmT or of Siva's wife BhavanT (Parvatr). It is marked 
by beautiful illuminations, in the preparation of wich Indians 
far excel Europeans. The DTvalT is celebrated with splendid effect 
at Benares. There its magnificence is heightened by the situation 
of the city on the bank of the river and the unique contour of 
the buildings. At the approach of night small earthen lamps, fad 
with oil, are prepared by millions, and placed quite close together 
so as to mark out every line of mansion, palace, temple, minaret, 
and dome in streaks of fire. All the vessels on the river are 
lighted up, and the city is a blaze of light”. 

§ 8, B. Guiding the spirits and floating 
lamps on the water. 

Underhill, in his work on “The Hindu Religious Feor” (Calcutta, 
1921) (p. 59), also referred to by Dr. Stutterheim, states that this 
festival is compounded of some five different festivals. On the 
thirteenth of the dark half of Asvina (i.e. the 28th) lamps are 
lighted and kept burning throughout the five nights. On the next 
day Vishnu’s victory over the demon Bali is celebrated ; the latter 
becomes king of hell, and thus the festival is connected with 



94 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Yama. In a note it is stated that Sir W. Jones, in Asiatic Researches 
III, pp. 25 sqq., says that the lights are to guide to Yama’s 
halls spirits of kinsmen who have died abroad, or 
in battle. The DTvapalT proper (the fourth of the five festivals) 
is celebrated on the first day of Karttika; in some parts of India 
this is the first day of the year. Bali worship belongs to its 
ceremonies, but in Bengal this cult is unknown, and “in its place 
we have the launching, on a stream, by women and 
girls, at twilight, of small saucers, each containing 
a lamp. If the lamp founders, or drifts ashore again, the year 
will bring misfortune; but if it floats safely down-stream, the 
year will be happy”. The last day is devoted to an “exchange 
of amenities between brothers and sisters, to celebrate Yama’s 
dining with his sister”. We further learn that the dTpPvalT is the 
ancient New-Year’s festival, and that on Ashadha new inoon 
(June — July) LakshmT is worshipped by women by means of 
lamps (p. 107). As to lamps set afloat on the water, 
this is also done in honour of the sun on the day of the 
winter solstice, the Makara Samkranti, when the sun enters 
Capricornus (Makara), “to secure freedom from sickness or sorrow 
for the year”. 

§ 8, C. Return of the spirits of the dead. 

In connection with this valuable information Prof. Vogel showed 
me a passage in W. Crooke’s Popular Religion and Folk-lore of 
Northern India (Westminster 1896) (II, pp. 295 sq.), where the 
DTvalT or Feast of Lamps, which is performed on the last day 
of the dark fortnight in the month of Karttika (this must be 
Asvina), is said to be more of a city than a rural festival. “But 
even in the villages everyone burns a lamp out- 
side the house on that night”. “The original basis 
of the feast seems to have been the idea that on 
this night the spirits of the dead revisit their 
homes, which are cleaned and lighted for their 



The Indian Feast of Lamps (Divali). 


95 


reception”. This seems to be the ground of the legend con- 
cerning the origin of the festival, which runs as follows. “Once 
upon a time an astrologer foretold to a Raja that on the new 
moon of Karttik his Kal, or fate, would appear at midnight in 
the form of a snake; that the way to avoid this was that he 
should order all his subjects on that night to keep their houses, 
streets, and lanes clean; that there should be a general 
illumination; that the king, too, should place a lamp at 
his door, and at the four corners of his court, and sprinkle 
rice and sweetmeats everywhere. If the door-lamp went out it 
was foretold that he would become insensible, and that he was 
to tell his Rant to sing the praises of the snake when it arrived. 
These instructions were carefully carried out, and the snake was 
so pleased with this reception, that he told the RanT to ask any 
boon she pleased. She asked for long life for her husband. The 
snake replied that it was out of his power to grant this, but that 
he would make arrangements with Yamaraja, the lord of the dead, 
for the escape of her husband, and that she was to continue to 
watch his body. Then the snake carried off the spirit 
of the king to Yamaraja. When the papers of the king’s 
life were produced before Yamaraja his age was denoted by a 
cipher, but the kindly snake put a seven before it, and thus raised 
his age to seventy years. Then Yamaraja said: ‘I find that this 
person has still seventy years to live. Take him back at once’. 
So the snake brought back the soul of the king, 
and he revived and lived for seventy years more, and established 
this feast in honour of the event”. In another passage of the 
same work (II, p. 74) the author says: “All Hindus believe 
that the ghosts of the dead return on the night of 
the DTvalT or feast of lamps”. 

§ 8, D. Lighting the spirits to their home. 

The idea of lighting the soul is found on p. 55 of the second 
volume of the same book. There we read that, when a Hindu 



96 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


dies, a lamp made of flour is placed in his hands to light his 
ghost to the realm of Yama. “Devout people believe that 
the spirit takes three hundred and sixty days to accomplish the 
journey, so an offering of that number of lamps is 
made. In order, also, to help him on his way, they feed a 
Brahman every day for a year; if the deceased was a woman, 
a BrahmanT is fed. The lamps are lighted facing the south, and 
this is the only occasion on which this is done, because the 
south is the realm of death, and no one will sleep or have their 
house door opening towards that ill-omened quarter of the sky”. 


§ 8, E. Divali combined with U-lan-b‘an, Preta-feeding 
and Chung-yuen. 

On considering these facts we arrive at the conclusion that 
the Hindu DTvalT festival must have been combined by the Tan- 
tric priests in China with the Avalambana and Preta-feeding rites. 
The fact that the latter were performed on the same date as the 
Taoist Chung-yuen, a festival in honour of Earth and ancestors, 
said to have originally been celebrated with nocturnal illumi- 
nations, may have given some support to this association of ideas. 
Karttika 1, apparently the principal day of the DTvalT festival, is 
the day following the last day of the Retreat of the monks, which 
according to the Chinese translators before Huen-tsang and 1-tsing, 
lasted from IV 16 — VII 15. Karttika was also called Kathina after 
the raw cotton cloth of the robes, distributed to the monks im- 
mediately after the Pravarana. ’ Thus the principal date of the 
DTvalT festival also belonged to the days of offering to the Sarigha, 
proper to the Avalambana festival, and was only one day after 
the principal date of that festival and the Chung-yuen rites; it 
is no wonder that they were identified. 

‘ Cf. Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 100; Daijiten, p. 194, s. v. 
Kachina. 



Divali and Chung-yuen. 


97 


We have seen that the idea of lamps being guides to 
the spirits of the dead is of Indian origin, as well 
as the floating of lamps on the water and the return 
of the souls to their homes on a special day. It may 
be that originally those Indian festivals of light were intended 
to strengthen the sun in a magical way; but at any rate, if 
this has been the case, it was forgotten and the lamps became 
guides to the returning spirits, because they were used in 
this way at the time of their death to light them on the road 
to the land of darkness. This Indian thought was introduced into 
China and applied to the Buddhist festival of the dead. If the 
Chung-yuen festival actually was a lantern feast with ancestor 
worship, its rites were also adequate for such an interpretation. 


§ 8, F. The Taoist Chung-yuen festival. 

The Bukkyo daijiten (s. v. Chugen, p. 1205, 3) informs us that 
according to the Taoist books the Chung-yuen, pfi or 
“Middle Beginning” festival, celebrated on the 15tli of the 7th 
month, is the day when the “Official of Earth” (i|jj ^), i.e. the 

god who in the service of the Emperor of Heaven has to admi- 

nistrate the Earth, descends (from Heaven) and fixes the virtuous 
and wicked deeds of mankind. All the great sages from all sides 
go to the Imperial Palace; at night the Taoist doctors expound 
the classics, the great sages equally give records of the holy 

volumes in order to release gedatsu, 

save) the hungry demons as well as the prisoners 
(Ha) (in hell). Further we read there that in the Taoist classics 
the fifteenth day or full of the moon ( ^ ) of the first month is 
called ^ , Siang-yuen or “Upper (First) Beginning”, that of 
the seventh month pjl Chung-yuen, or “Middle Beginning”, 
and that of the tenth month Hia-yuen or “Lower (Last) 

Beginning”. 


7 



98 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Prof, de Groot’s Fetes annuelles a Emoui ' gives us full and 
very interesting details with regard to these three important 
Taoist festivals. The “Lords of the Three Worlds” (“ 
Sankiai-kung) are the ^ and ^ , the “Officials 

of Heaven, Earth and Water”, i.e. the gods who rule those three 
departments of nature : heaven or the sky, the earth and hell, 
the atmosphere and water. Their festivals are called their 
ife 0; these are the three “Beginnings”, mentioned above. The 
first of the three is the most important, because it is devoted to 
the cult of all of them, but especially to the “Official of Heaven”. 
The word yuen “beginning, origin”, means the creative 

force of Heaven and Earth ; on the day of the full moon of the 
first month, in the beginning of spring, the creative power of 
heaven commences its action; on that of the seventh month, in 
the beginning of autumn, that of earth ; and in the beginning of winter 
that of water. On the first and the fifteenth day of each month 
two lanterns are lighted in the houses in honour of the Lords 
of the Three Worlds and three incense-sticks are offered up to 
them in an incense-burner, specially devoted to their service. 
But the fifteenth of the first month is the great day for lighting 
lanterns and candles in honour of the “Official of Heaven”, be- 
fore the gates, in the streets, within the houses and in the temples. 
These lanterns have all kinds of forms, whilst the predominant 
colours are red (fire and luck) and white (sunlight and moonlight). 
If the candles offered up in the temples are not yet entirely 
burned after five evenings, the remainders are brought back to 
the houses of the donators, who give some money, enveloped in 
red paper, to the priests, and use them on their domestic altars 
for the benefit of the family. At the same time, i. e. on the evening 
of the 15 th, the - day of the Lantern festival (thus called by the 
foreigners), bonfires are lighted, mostly before temples, where 
combustibles have been heaped up in an open place. The day 


' Fetes annuelles a Emoui, I, pp. 124 sqq.; II, pp. 445 sqq. 



The three Yuen festivals in China. 


99 


before the image of a small tiger is carried about in a palanquin 
and the combustibles are collected from house to house; this is 
the Celestial White Tiger, the constellation which in spring receives 
the Sun and spreads its vivifying rays, and whose large image, 
made of bamboo and paper and filled with crackers, is drawn 
along the streets on the day of the festival, while with a loud 
noise the crackers burst forth from its body. In the evening of 
the 15th the piles before the temples are lighted and Taoist 
priests, bare-footed and sometimes haif-naked, jump through the 
flames with the little tiger (which belongs to the temple and was 
carried before in a palanquin) in their arms, followed by the 
crowd, which gets into a fury of excitement. For hours they 
jump through the fire again, with an immense noise of gongs 
and cries, till the pile is consumed and the hot ashes are col- 
lected* by women, who take them home and lay them upon their 
hearths, thus causing the domestic animals to prosper by the 
power of the vernal fire, which represents the reviving sun. 
Similar customs are found all over the world, and the present 
writer, quoting Frazer’s Golden Bough and Teylor’s Primitive 
Culture, in his treatise on “Fire and ignes fatui in China and 
Japan" suggested that the custom of leaping or walking over 
those fires probably serves to lustrate the performers as well as 
to give them strength and health. ' 

The second of the three festivals, the Chung-yuen, popularly 
called the “Middle of the Seventh Month” ), celebrates 

the birthday of the “Official of Earth”, the beginning of autumn, 
when the products of the earth have ripened and the power of 
the sun is gradually decreasing. The offerings to this god are 
the same as those made to the “Official of Heaven”, but at the 
same time rice-cakes, sweets, ducks and wine are presented to 
the ancestors. Finally, on the fifteenth day of the tenth month 

' Fire and ignes fatui in China and Japan, Mitt, des Seminars f. Orient. 
Sprachen zu Berlin, XVii, Abt. I, Ostasias. Studien, Berlin 1914, Ch. U, 
§ § 7 and 8. 



100 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

the “Official of Water” is worshipped with a domestic sacrifice 
similar to that of the two other ceremonies. The element water 
corresponds to the colour black, the North and winter;’ 
hence the Spirit of Water is worshipped at the beginning of winter. 

According to the Wu-tsah-tsu ^ a work of the Ming 
dynasty), ^ quoted by the IVakan sansai sue (Ch. IV, s.v. Urabon), 
about A.D. 420, at the beginning of the early Sung dynasty, 
nocturnal illuminations took place at the Chung-Yuen 
and Hia- Yuen as well as at the Siang- Yuen festivals ; but at the 
two former ceremonies they were abolished in the Shun-hwa era 
(A.D. 990 — 995) by the Emperor T'ai Tsung ^)- 

As to the Chung-yuen, other Taoist names of this autumnal 
All-souls festival are Sl or ^ H or |§; gj| or 
Ta-tsiao or Kien-tsiao or Sheh-tsiao or Tsoh-tsiao, “Striking, 
Setting up. Arranging, Making the Sacrifice”. The character tr, 

ta, to beat, is used for striking fire by means of the “fire-striker”, 

and indicates the fire as well as the libations used 
in worship of the dead. 

In reply to the valuable remarks of Dr. Duyvendak with regard 
to my treatise on this subject in the “Mededeelingen” of the Royal 
Academy of Sciences in Amsterdam {Acta Orientalia, V 1, p. 39 sqq.), 
I agree that the Chung-yuen festival, forming part of a Taoistic 
group of Triads, seems to be of comparatively recent origin. 
In imitation of Buddhism the Taoists created such Triads, and 
this must have been the reason why they omitted Summer 

(Fire) in this group of festivals of the seasons and “Officials” 

of Heaven, Earth and Water. From olden times, however, there 
had been four festivals devoted to the “renewal of fire”. 

' Cf. ibid., Ch. ii, § 9, p. 18. (Hwai-nan-tsze, Ch. m, p. 11, and the 
Pen-ts’ao kang-muh, Sect. Fire, Ch. vi, p. 5 a. 

^ Wu-tsah-tsu, ^ , written by Sie Chao-chi, , who 

lived during the Wan-lih era (1573 — 1620). Cf. Kanseki kaidai, zakki, p.819. 

® Cf. Dor^, Researches into Chinese superstitions, Vol. vi, art. 4, quoted by 
Dr. Duyvendak. 



Chung-yuen and the Renewal of Fire. 101 

The Cheu li says that the Sze-kwan, "gj have the 

task of giving the official order with regard to putting the fire 
into action. “In the four seasons they change the Fire 
of the Empire in order to save (the country) from 
the diseases of the time”. In my treatise on “Fire and 
ignes fatai in China and Japan ' I referred to Frazer's Golden 
Bough and Tylor's Primitive Culture, in order to show that this 
"renewal of fire” in the four seasons was a magical act (not 
“light-worship”, as Dr. Duyvendak calls such ceremonies) to 
cause the sun to become stronger and stronger in spring, to 
retain its strength in summer, and to strengthen the sun at its 
decline and weakness in autumn and winter. At the same time 
these fires, representing the sun itself, were believed to drive 
away all demons of disease from man, cattle and crops, and to 
make"' them strong and prosperous. Moreover, the custom of leaping 
or walking over those fires probably served to lustrate the 
performers as well as to give them strength and health. In au- 
tumn they often had the character of harvest festivals. 

In later times, after the Han dynasty, the “renewal of fire” is 
said to have been limited to spring instead of being still prac- 
tised in the four seasons. This was the very time when the 
Taoistic Triad of Heaven, Earth and Water and their festivals 
seems to have been formed, the first of which was the famous 
Lantern Festival of Spring. Probably they did not create new 
ceremonies, but took the ancient fire rites of autumn (the harvest 
festival practically retaining its former value, but now in worship 
of the Earth and the ancestors) and winter, in order to set up 
their new Triad. The “nocturnal illuminations" of the Chung-yuen 
and Hia-yuen may have been a survival of the “renewal of fire”, 
practised on those dates in former times. Evidently this ancient 
renewal of fire in autumn was not, as Dr. Duyvendak calls it, 
“going against the Tao of Heaven", for this would never have 


' L. !., Sect. 1, Ch. n, §§ 1, 8, 9. 



102 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


been done by a good Taoist, but it was an endeavour to turn 
the remaining power of Yang, as much as possible, to the benefit 
of mankind. 

As to the term “striking the sacrifice” (tr Si), used for the 
Chung-yuen rites, as stated above this points to the ancient use 
of the “fire-striker” at the renewal of fire. With regard to the 
word tsiao I acknowledge the fact that it is a general term for 
Taoist sacrifices, but I consider the composition of the character 
to be clear evidence of its meaning libations and “burning”. The 
“phonetic element” instead of having no significance, must 

on the contrary have been the original form of the character, 
and the radical ^ was added to designate the libations, made 
at this kind of sacrifice. 

It may be that Dr. Duyvendak is right in not believing that 
the Chung-yuen festival has to any considerable degree influenced 
the celebration of Avalambana, and I am very grateful to him 
for his highly valuable criticism. But the above facts may prove 
the possibility of its having contained survivals of an ancient 
fire ceremony, namely the “nocturnal illuminations”, which were 
so remarkable in view of the coincidence with the Buddhist 
festival of the dead. 

§ 9. The lights of the Avalambana festival in China. 

If we consider the above facts, we arrive at the conclusion, 
that the illuminations predominating at the Avalambana festival 
in China (and afterwards in Japan) were due to H i n d u i s t and, 
perhaps, Taoist influences. The original Avalambana rites were 
offerings to the Buddha and the Sahgha for the sake of the 
parents of seven generations, and its date was the last day of the 
summer retreat, “a day of enjoyment” to the Buddha and his 
monks. It is no wonder that the Taoists, always ready to iden- 
tify Buddhist ideas with theirs and to combine the Indian and 
Chinese elements of religion, especially with regard to 



The Avalambana lights in China, 


103 


the dead, agreed with the Buddhist propagators in celebrating 
the two festivals on the same day. Afterwards the Tantric School 
mixed up the rites of Preta feeding, introduced by Amoghavajra 
(who translated a large number of works from A.D. 746 — 771), 
with the Avalambana ceremony, and finally the illuminations, 
proper to the Indian DivalT and (perhaps) to the Chinese Chung- 
yuen, became a most important part of the Avalambana in its 
new Tantric form. We know how the Tantric School was accus- 
tomed to make free use of Hindu and foreign elements and to 
adopt them in order to enlarge its own sphere of influence. It 
declared the different Hindu and foreign gods to be manifestations 
of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and took them up into its pantheon, 
and did not hesitate to annex the Hindu (and Taoist?) illumi- 
nations and to explain them, according to Indian thought, as 
guid^es of the Preta s. In this way a new and fascinating 
element was added to the Buddhist festival of the dead. 

As to the Buddhist methods of adopting native customs and 
ceremonies and explaining them in a Buddhist sense we may 
compare the offering of pebbles by Japanese travellers to the 
Bodhisattva Jizo (Ksitigarbha) in his function of god of the roads. 
In olden times such little stones were laid at the feet of the 
phallic gods of the roads, the Sae or Sai no kami (also called 
by the Chinese term Dosojin), not as an offering, but to place 
one’s self under their protection by bringing into contact with 
them something which had before been touched by the person 
himself (cf. the Hermaia of the ancient Greeks). When Jizo had 
taken the place of these gods, the Buddhists continued the old 
custom and explained it by saying that each of those pebbles 
meant one pebble less to be heaped up on the beach of the river 
in hell by the souls of the children, who stood under JizO’s 
protection ! ' 

In the same way the Taoist lights, which in olden times had 

‘ Cf. my treatise on "T/ie Bodhisattva Ti-tsang (Jizo) in China and Japan”, 
Ch. in, § 2, p. 120. 



,104 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


served to strengthen the declining power of the sun, may have 
been identified by Buddhists and Taoists with the DivalT lamps 
as guiding lights to show the Pretas the way to the sacrificial 
tables of the human world ! I say “Buddhists and Taoists”, for 
it was a mutual process of borrowing and identifying and changing 
the original conceptions. We saw above, how the Taoist per- 
formers of the Chung-yuen rites used their holy texts “to save 
the hungry demons” (the Pretas); on the other hand the Ten 
Kings of Hell are a Taoist idea accepted by the Buddhists. They 
gave the supremacy to Shang Ti, the Taoist Emperor of Heaven, 
but under him they placed Ti-tsang as the Lord of Hell. ‘ So 
extensive was the process of mutual adaptation. 

As to the time when the lights of the Chung-yuen festival may 
have been identified with the DTvali lamps as an essential part 
of Avalambana, the above passage of the Wu-tsah-tsu about, their 
abolition at the Chung-yuen (which thenceforth became an ordi- 
nary domestic ancestral rite) between A.D. 990 and 995 by the 
Emperor T‘ai Tsung, may point to the fact that from that time 
all illuminations on that day were considered to belong to the 
Buddhist and not to the Taoist festival. 

§ 10. The lights and fires of the Bon festival in Japan. 

In Japan Kwanki 2 (A.D. 1230) is designated in the Wakan 
sansai zue ^ as the date when by order of the Emperor Go Hori- 
kawa (1222 — 1232) for the first time candles were lighted from 
the 14tli night of the seventh month to the end of the month. 
At the Jogen and Gegen (the Siang-yuen and Hia-yuen) festivals 
no candles were lighted. It is clear that this Emperor considered 
the lights as belonging to the Buddhist festival of the dead, 
whereas the author whose statement was used in the Wakan 

' L. 1., Sect. II, Ch. I, 25 sqq. 

2 Wakan sansai zue (A. D. 1713), Ch. iv, s. v. Urabon. 



The Bon lights and fires in Japan. 


105 


sansai zue thought of the Chugen in connection with the two 
other Taoist festivals. 

The fires of hemp-stalks, kindled in Japan before the eaves or 
the gates in the evening of the thirteenth (Fujii says the 
fourteenth, but according to the Bukkyo daijiten it is the thir- 
teenth) of the seventh month (the beginning of the Urabon or 
Bon festival) are called mukae-bi or mukai-bi ( ^), “Wel- 
come-fires”, because they are a welcome to the spirits of 
the ancestors; ' in the evening of the sixteenth day (the end 
of the festival) they are sent back to their infernal abode in the 
same way by means of the okuri-bi ( 5^ or “Seeing-off 
fires”. ^ The latter name is also given to the fires kindled before 
the gate at funerals, when the coffin is carried out of the house ; “ 
thus, as in India and China, these ideas were also connected 
with*the funeral ceremonies. 

The Jodo Shinshu priest Eku (^.^) (A.D. 1644 — 1721), of 
the Higashi Hongwanji branch of this sect, in his work entitled 
SorinshU, (Ch. IX, 'T'X says that the okuri-bi are 

not lights to see off the spirits, but fires kindled on the 
mountains and moors and on the banks of the 
rivers in order to burn the offerings. These sacrifices are 
food for the demons, but people seem to have thought them 
to be only offerings to the spirits of their ancestors and de- 
ceased parents. After the ceremony of distributing the different 
kinds of food (to the spirits) the altar and the offerings 
were burned, but as this was dangerous in the neighbourhood 
of the houses, people went to the mountains, moors and river- 
sides to burn them there. Those fires were called okuri-bi, be- 
cause they served to send the offerings to the world of 
the spirits. 

Although this explanation of the word okuri-bi is wrong (be- 

' Fuji! Nobumasa’s Bukkyo jirin, p. 813, s. v. mukae-bi. 

2 Daijiten, p. 149, 1 s. v. okuri-bi-, Bukkyo Jirin, p. 89, s. v. okuri-bi. 

® Ueda, Daijiten, no. 11983, s. v. okuri-bi. 



106 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


cause they are the counterparts of the mukae-bi), yet this passage 
is interesting with regard to the fires kindled on the mountains 
and moors and on the banks of the rivers, and the tenacity of 
popular tradition which partly kept to the original meaning of 
the Avalambana festival as celebrated on behalf of the parents 
and ancestors of seven generations instead of for the benefit of 
the pretas. We say "partly”, because they forgot that originally 
those offerings were not made to the parents and ancestors them- 
selves, but to the Buddha and the Sahgha on their behalf. 

§ 11. The character -k represented in a mystic fire rite 
on the last day of the Bon festival in Japan. 

With regard to the fires and lights of the Avalambana festival 
a curious custom is related in the Wakan sansai zue s.v. Ura- 
bon. In the evening of the sixteenth day of the seventh month 
(i. e. the last day of the festival) more than 400 inhabitants of 
two villages in the province Yamashiro, East of the Kamo river, 
namely Jodoji mura and Jishoji mura (’^ ±#tit. SI® 
called after two ancient Buddhist temples there, used to 
light torches of pine-wood on the top of the mountain near jsdoji 
mura, which are still considered to be okuri-bi or “seeing-off 
fires” for the “holy spirits” {shoryo, ^ ^)- This term slidryd 

is also used in the name shoryosai, ^ ^ ^ , or “Festival of 
the Holy Spirits”, a popular name for the Urabon-e, which clearly 
indicates that the Japanese people kept to the original meaning 
of the Avalambana in so far as it was not celebrated on behalf 
of the hungry demons but for the sake of the souls of the parents 
of seven generations. ' 

Tradition says that Kobo Daishi was the first to practise this 
rite. By means of the torches the character , dai, “great”, is 
formed, ten jo *■ about 100 English feet, square, and 

it is called Daimoji no hi, , “Fire of the character 

‘ Cf. Daijiten, p. 794, s. v. shoryosai. 



Bon festival and the character great. 


107 


great”. The ground being uneven it is levelled by means of 
pebbles. Every year on the sixth day of the seventh month pine- 
trees are cut in the mountains, dried, and burned on the 16th. 
From far the character is visible. If these pine-trees are 

used by mistake for another purpose, the whole family of the 
culprit is sure to suffer from dyssentery. ’ 

Yoshida Togo, relates the same fact, and gives 

the name of the mountain as Nyo-i ga take ( % -S')- 

after the ancient temple Nyoirinji near Jodoji machi; it is a spur 
of Hieizan. According to tradition it originated from the Higashi- 
yama-dono, i. e. Ginkakiiji, built in A.D. 1473 on Higashi-yama 
by the Shogun Ashikaga no Yoshimasa, and made after his death 
(A.D. 1490) into a Buddhist temple called Jishoji, 

A monk was said to have made it, and it was a summer-evening’s 
sight«for the people south of the Kamo river ^). Afterwards 
it was imitated also on Matsuzaki and Okita-yama, North of the 
Kamo river. 

The fact that this remarkable ceremony took place in the evening 
of the 16th of the 7th month indicates that Terajima RyOan, the 
learned author of the Wakan sansai zue (A.D. 1713) was right 
in connecting it with the Avalambana festival. The character ^ 
has many meanings in Buddhist phraseology, e. g. excelling 
(^)> wonderful (^), mysterious ( ^ ^ ^); the sandai, 

are the eternal constancy, blessing power and converting 
power of Absolute Nature {Shinnyo, Bhutatathata). ^ 

Thus the mystic meaning of this character is very important, 

' Wakan sansai zue, Ch. iv, s. v. Urabon. 

Dai Nihon chimei jisho, I, p. 46, s. v. Nyo-i ga take. 

3 Cf. Daijiten, p. 1122, 3, s. v, dai-, the godai, , are the five elements, 

earth, water, fire, w\nd(air) and ether-, in the rokudai, a sixth 

element, knowledge shiki, vijndna) is added, and in the 

shichidai, a seventh, thought ( n. , ken, dar&and) is included before knowledge. 



108 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and we may be sure that the Shingon sect or the mystic branch 
of the Tendai sect were the originators of this introduction of 
mysticism into the fire rites of the Avalambana festival. Perhaps 
the sandai were represented on the three mountains mentioned 
above, in order to show to the departing spirits the eternal con- 
stancy, blessing power and converting power of Absolute Nature. 

§ 12. The Preta-feeding ceremony of the Tantric School 

in Japan. 


According to the Himitsu jirin (Jliilt ^ ^ ) or “Mystic 

Dictionary”, written by Tomita Kojun (“g ^ i^) ' mystic 

creed still distinguishes the Avalambana rites, consisting of a 
secret ceremony in honour of Sakyamuni to save the dead, from 
the Segaki-ho and the Segaki-e the Cere- 

mony and Meeting for distributing food to the Pretas. The Se- 
gaki-ho takes place in the dark of night, under a tree on a quiet . 
spot, or by the waterside, where an altar is erected, three feet 
{shaku) high or less, or without an altar and without lighting of 
fire. In the deepest silence and quietness water is sprinkled upon 
the drink and food, the Amrta-dharani {kanro-darani) is recited 
and the “Meditation upon the Water-wheel” {suirin-kwan, 

||§_) is made, the names of the Five Buddhas are invoked and 
thus the offerings are distributed to the Pretas- If priests of the 
mystic creed perform this ceremony every night, they accumulate 
meritorious and blissful actions {kudoku, ^ ID- The Amrta- 
dharani is explained in Nanjo No. 540, entitled nm-wm 
, Buddhabhashitamrta-sutra-dharani, and translated 
by Sikshananda (App. II 145), who also translated No. 539, the 
Sutra on the magic formulae for saving the Pretas, mentioned 
above (A.D. 700 — 712; half a leaf). There we read the following 


‘ Himitsu Jirin, p. 85, s. v. Urabon-e. This work was published in 1911 
by the Kaji Sekaisha in Tokyo. 




Segaki-ho, Tantric Pr eta-feeding. 


109 


words; “Take one handful of water, pronounce the dharani 

(given in the text) over it seven times, and sprinkle it in the 
air; then one drop of that water changes into ten bushels of 
amrta (“sweet dew”, kanrd), and all the pretas together can 
drink it and become completely satisfied”. Therefore this dharani 
is also called “The mantra for distributing amrta” (Ji-fr® 
^ , shikanro-shingon) and “The dharani of the ten amrtas” 

Jukanro-Ju). ' The suirin-kwan or '‘meditation on 
the water-wheel” causes the water to be supplied everywhere, 
it was used by Kogyo Daishi )- the famous Shin- 

gon priest Kakuban ( ) (founder of the Shingi Shingonshu), 
who lived A.D. 1095 — 1143.- The five rin or wheels are the five 
elements. ® 

In the segaki-e or "Meetings for distributing food to the Pretas” 
only the doshi ( ^ m ) or “Leading Master” performs the 
hd, wheras the shikishu (If^ or attendant priests (generally 
twenty in number) chant Sanskrit hymns in praise of the Triratna 
(bai no ku, Pir®) and scatter flowers (thus practising the two 

hoyd, of the mystic doctrine). * “As in such a solemn 

ceremonial meeting the hungry demons cannot be present, accord- 
ing to the main kalpa rule) all their offerings are thrown 

into the water and thus distributed to them. It is wrong to con- 
found the Avalambana rites with this meeting because as a rule 
it takes place on the date of the Avalambana festival”. ' 

As stated above, in Japan the food offerings are wrapped up 
in mats and thrown into a river, which agrees with this passage 
and partly also with the text of Nanjo No. 984, where we read 
that the ordinary Pretas receive the food, poured out on a pure 
spot, whereas the Brahman-rsis obtain it, when it is thrown into 

‘ Daijiten, p. 220, 2, s. v. kanrokyo darani. 

2 Himitsu jirin, p. 635, s. v. suirin. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1803, 3, s. v. rin. 

^ Himitsu jirin, p. 988, s. v. /idyd. 

® Himitsu Jirin, p. 642, s. v. segaki-e. 



110 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


a pure stream. Evidently this rule has no connection with the 
floating of “water-lamps” in China and Japan, but both are Indian 
conceptions; as to the latter we may refer to the DTvali and 
Makara ^mkranti festivals, mentioned above. 

■ Although the Tantric priests themselves appear to distinguish 
the Avalambana rites from the segaki-ho, by celebrating the latter 
on the date of the Avalambana festival the Tantric School in 
China must have combined them intentionally, in order to pro- 
pagate the Preta-feeding rites among the Chinese people in a 
quick and easy way. 

The Usuzdshi, ^ ^ IK. a very interesting work on mystic 
ceremonies, written by the Japanese Shingon priest Joken 

(A.D. 1162 — 1231), ' who also wrote the Sahoshu, ^ ^ 
(containing 54 ceremonies), “ gives a description of the Segaki-ho 
with the magic formulae in DevanagarT writing (as in Nanjo 
No. 1467) with katakana reading, verses of four characters in 
each line (those of No. 1467 are lines of seven and five cha- 
racters) and short quotations in prose, apparently from the “Cere- 
monial Rules for distributing drink, food and water to the Pretas” 

translated A.D. 746-771 by 
Amoghavajra, and mentioned in the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1025, s.v. 
Segaki-ho). This is evident from the fact that in both texts the 
same Five Buddhas are invoked in the same order, whereas the 
other texts, referred to above, gave four or seven names. The 
quarters and ordinary names of the Five Buddhas (among whom 
Sakyamuni takes the place of Amoghasidhi) are not given in the 
text, but added in the passage of the Bukkyo daijiten. As the 
Himitsu Jirin also speaks about the invocation of the Five Buddhas 
we may be sure that the Japanese Shingon priests, in accordance 
probably with their Chinese teachers, have generally followed 
the rules, given in this text. 

‘ Himitsu jirin, p. 74, s.v. Usuzdshi-, p. 637, s. v. Seigen (Washio, p. 674, 
2, calls him Joken). 

* Himitsu jirin, p. 401, s. v. sahoshu. 



Segaki-ho and Ikitama-e. Ill 

These Five Buddhas are: 


Hosho 

9m- 

South 


Ratnasambhava 

MyOshikishin 


East 


Akshobhya 

Kanro-d 


West 


i Amitabha 

Kwohakushin 

mm 9 

Centre 

± 0 

Mahavairocana 

Rifui 

m w ft 

North 

j 


Sakyamuni 


§ 13. The Ikitama-e or “Festival of the living spirits’", 

• celebrated in Japan in the seventh month. 

The Wakan sansai zue (I.l.) quotes a passage from the Jibutsu 
kigen, ^ ^ (time?) which states that on the 15th day 

of the seventh month the monks and nuns were entertained. This 
was called Ubonsai, ^ ^ (an abbreviation of Urabon-sai), 
and it originated in the story of Maudgalyayana. Afterwards it 
was largely celebrated with flower ornaments. The contemporaries 
of the author of the Jibutsu kigen made round bamboo shelves, 
on the top of which they placed lotus leaves {hasu no ha), and 
in the centre they accumulated all kinds of delicacies, fruits and 
food. They then set up a picture of Maudgalyayana saving his 
mother (from hell) and made sacrifices to it. Terajima adds that 
“the hasu no meshi, ^ or “lotus-meal” is offered up to the 
souls of one’s deceased father and mother; it is presented further 
to one’s relatives, and this is made a ceremony, called iki-mitama 
no matsuri (^^^), “Sacrifice to the living spirits”. Stewed 
glutinous rice is wrapped up in lotus leaves and tied up by 
means of “Kwannon-zd”, (the Kwannon-chiku, 

is the Rhapis humilis or ground-rattan). The (invocation of the) 
names of the Buddhas is considered proper for the purpose”. 


112 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


The iki-mitama or ikiryo or shoryo “Living spirits”, 

are the spirits of living persons, which, when angry, may cause 
a curse even before their death. ' The iki-mitama no matsuri (a 
Shinto expression) is evidently intended to worship such spirits. 
Fujiwara no Chikanaga (A.D. 1419 — 1497) in his diary, 

the Chikanaga kyoki ( which he began to write 

after having returned to the capital in A.D. 1470, mentions such 
a ceremony celebrated by a son of the Emperor on the twenty- 
first day of the seventh month of Bummei 8 (A.D. 1476). Ando 
Tameaki ^^ ) in his work entitled Neman kibun 

jjj ^ ^ )) written in A.D. 1702, refers to this passage and 
says that this must be the worship of the “living spirits" {iki- 
mitama, ) of the living parents and elder brothers and 

sisters, a ceremony dating from before the Bummei era .(A.D. 
1469 — 1487) and originating in the worship of the souls of the 
dead, said to come (from hell) at the Bon (Avalambana) festival 
of the seventh month. - Washio Takayasu (""^ j5^ J^)) iri his 

diary entitled Nisuiki ( FtB)^ which runs from 1504 — 1532, 

relates that the iki-mitama ceremony was performed by the Im- 
perial Princes and the other Court dignitaries in the seventh 
month of Eisho 14 (A.D. 1517), on a lucky day between the 
eighth and the thirteenth of that month. Tanikawa Kotosuga (:^ 

til ± m) (A.D. 1706 — 1796), in his Wakun no shiori (^ gjf) 
quotes this passage and states that also in the Shiki mono- 
g atari ( ^) or “Tales of the four seasons”, which 

gives the public matters of the whole year (written by Kamo 
Chomei, f ^ ^ , A.D. 1154 — 1216, the famous author of the 

Hojoki, written in A.D. 1212), this ceremony is spe- 

cially mentioned in the seventh month and said to be more 

' Daijiten, p. 50, 3, s. v. ikiryo; p. 792, s. v. shoryo. 

2 Neman kibun, Ch. vi, in the Hyakka setsurin, , a col- 

lection of Tokugawa works, zokuhen, ± , p. 138. 



Iki-mitama-e {seventh month). 


113 


important than the other Tamamatsuri or “offerings to the spirits”, 
even than that of the end of the year. Tanikawa adds that the 
iki-mitama-e, held by the people of his own day 

(18th century), was in his opinion a survival of that ceremony 
of the 12 th century, and that originally the food, given to one’s 
living parents, was said to have been called iki-mitama, 

' In this way, and also with the characters , the 

word iki-mitama is written in the Kokushi daijiten ( 

(1908), which also gives ^ (p. 138, s.v.). The 

author of that work states that it is based upon the Avalambana 
sutra, and that the ceremony was first performed by the people 
and finally also by the Court, but that the time of its beginning 
is unknown. In the Tsurezuregusa (^ ^ !^) (A.D. 1334 — 1339, 
by Yoshida KenkO, , a tama-matsuri is mentioned, 

but if is not clear whether an offering to the living spirits is 
meant. In the Chikamoto nikki (^ ^ 0 §B)> ^ diary of the 
fifteenth century, it is found for the first time as a festival of the 
military class, celebrated in the seventh month of the year Kwansho 
6 (A.D. 1465), Bummei 5 (A.D. 1473) and Bummei 13 (A.D. 1481). 

It took place at the Court for the first time in Bummei 8 (A.D. 
1476), when we read about it in the passage of the Chikanaga- 
kyoki, quoted above, and in Mei-o 4 (A.D. 1495), according to 
Miyu-dono’s ± 0 IE- another diary of that time. The visits 
paid by the people were afterwards changed into receptions of 
invited guests. That day the ladies, wearing suzushi (fine silk 
gauze), received the first cup of wine; then the men were called 
to perform the ceremony of six or seven wine cups. At the Shogun’s 
Court in Yedo, on the eleventh day of the seventh month, dishes 
were sent from the Nishimaru palace to the Honmaru palace, 
consisting of three kinds of juice and one kind of cooked vege- 
table, and the Court officials went to the Palace, where a banquet 
was given. And on the fifteenth day fishes, caught in the garden 

> Wakun no shiori, I, p. 153, s.v. iki-midama. 

8 



114 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

by the shore, were sent as a present from the Nishimaru palace 
to the Honmaru building. ' As to the Imperial Court in Kybto,. 
in the fifteenth century offerings of a thousand rolls of silk, ac- 
companied by an official document, to the Samboin-dono, and of 
one box of vermicelli (somen), one of young lotus roots, and 
three barrels of Imperial wine to Ichijoin-dono, are mentioned in 
the Denchu moshitsugi no ki, ffi If 3>t IB. “Diary of the 
transmitting of messages of the palaces”, with regard to the ninth 
day of the seventh month. ^ 

It is evident that this worship of living spirits was based upon 
the passage of the Avalambana sutra (Nanjo No. 303), mentioned 
above, where the Buddha says that on the fifteenth of the seventh 
month delicacies, drink and food should be offered up (to the 
Buddha and the Sahgha) on behalf of their li ving parents as well 
as of the ancestors belonging to the seven former generations. 

Then the life of their living parents would last a hundred years, 
without illness and suffering, and the ancestors would be saved 
from their Preta tortures and be reborn in a heaven of limitless 
felicity and joy. Through the influence of the Preta-feeding cere- 
mony these rites had become offerings to the spirits themselves 
(instead of to the Buddha and Sahgha on their behalf), which 
was a very welcome idea to the Chinese with their elaborate 
ancestor worship, as also to the Japanese. The latter, bearing in 
mind the words of the sutra, extended this conception to the 
cult of their living parents, and this explains their presents of 
drink and food (and silk) to the iki-mitama. Wine drinking cere- 
monies and banquets accompanied these rites, which in this way 
became a regale of the living guests just as the Preta offerings 
were a feast of the dead. 


' Kokushi daijiten, p. 138, s. v. iki-mitama. 

2 Gunsho ruiju, ^ ^ , No. 407, p. 279 ; Matsti-no-ya hikki, 

written in 1839 by Takada Tomokiyo, 03 
Vol. Ill, Ch. 105, p. 313, s. V. iki-mitama. 



Wotship of living spirits. 


115 


With regard to the words of Kamo Chomei (A.D. 1154 — 1212) 
in the Shiki monogatari, quoted above, as to the different offerings 
in the four seasons, we may remark that the Wakan sansai zue 
(Ch. IV, s. V. Urabon) enumerates the so-called rokubon, 
or “Six Vessels” or “Six Avalambana’s”, apparently to be under- 
stood as offerings to the dead. They took place on the following 
dates and hours: 

H 15, hour of the tiger (3 — 5 A.M.) — 

II 16, hour of the horse (11 — 1 P.M.) 

V 15, hour of the hare (5 — 7 A.M.) — 

V 16, hour of the snake (9 — 11 A.M.) 

VII 14, hour of the hare (5 — 7 A.M.) — 

VII 16, hour of the horse (11 — 1 P.M.) 

VIII 15, hour of the dragon (7 — 9 A.M.) — 

• VIII 16, hour of the monkey (3 — 5 P.M.) 

IX 16, hour of the sheep (1 — 3 P.M.) — 

IX 17, hour of the monkey (3 — 5 P.M.) 
XII 30, hour of the horse (11—1 P.M.) — 

I 1, hour of the hare (5—7 A.M.). 

We have not found these rokubon mentioned elsewhere, but 
that of the end of the year was, as we learn from the author’s 
words, the second in importance after the great festival of the 
seventh month. 

The above facts have shown us, how the festival of the seventh 
month is composed of many elements, and how India, China and 
Japan have furnished their Buddhist, Hinduist, Taoist and Shintoist 
ideas (in so far as the iki-mitama is a Shinto thought), thus 
making it a picturesque festival of light, incense and offerings, 
dances and presents, recreating the dead and enjoying the living. 



CHAPTER V. 


THE NINNOKYO OR "SUTRA OF THE BENEVOLENT 
KINGS”, AND THE NINNO-E, BASED THEREON. 

§ 1. The Ninno-e and the Ninnokyo in the seventh 
and eighth centuries. 

The first time we find mention of this sutra and of a meeting 
devoted to it, is in A.D. 660, in the 5ih month of the 6th year 
of the reign of the Empress Saimei. There we read : “let this 
month, by order of the Empress, the officials prepared one hundred 
raised seats and one hundred nd-gesa, and held a Ninnd-hannya 
meeting". ' The reason why it was held is not given. The no-gesa, 
afterwards written ^ ^ also called nd-e (^ :^), the 
“patched kasaya” or the “patched garment”, is a lined priestly 
robe, originally meant as a poor covering, but as it was worn 
by high-priests at important ceremonies it gradually became a 
rich and precious attire. ^ According to the Faso ryakki “ the 
Ninnokyo was expounded in the third month, and the meeting 
devoted to it took place in the fifth. 

In A.D. 676 (fifth year of the Emperor Temmu’s reign), on the 
20th day of the eleventh month, “messengers were sent by the 
Emperor to all provinces to expound the Konkwomyokyo and the 


, Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, K. T. K. {Kokushi taikei), 
Vol. I, pp. 466 sq.; Aston, Nihongi, IF, p. 264 sq. 

^ Cf. Daijiten, p. 1298 s. v. no-gesa-, Daijii III, p. 3793. 

® Faso ryakki, K. T. K. vi, Ch. v, p. 517. 



Ninnokyo and Ninno-e {7th and 8th cent.). 117 

Ninnokyo". The day before His Majesty had “given orders to 
the provinces near the capital to release living things” 
hojo, ikimono wo hanatsu, to let loose fishes or birds as a meri- 
torious act). ' According to the Fuso ryakki '^ the expounding of 
the sutra was ordered on account of the great famine caused by 
the heavy drought of that year. ^ 

In A.D. 693 (the seventh year of the reign of the Empress 
Jito), on the 23th day of the IQth month, “the Ninnokyo began 
to be expounded in the hundred provinces. This came to a close 
after four days”. This is the first time we read about its being 
read throughout the country separately (not in combination with 
the Konkwomyokyd). * 

In A.D. 729 (TempyO 1, the sixth year of the Emperor Shomu’s 
reign) (VI 1) the Ninndkyd was expounded in the Palace (chodo) 
and fn all the provinces. 

In A.D. 746 (Tempyo 18, 111 15) the same Emperor ordered 
the Ninno-hannyakyd to be expounded for the strength and main- 
tenance of the dynasty, the rest of the State, and the welfare of 
the people. At the same time partial amnesty was granted. ® 

In A.D. 747 (Tempyo 19, V 15) the Ninnokyo was explained 
in the Southern Park (of the Palace) and in all the provinces. ’ 

In A.D. 750 (Tempyo Shoho 2, V 8) the Empress Koken in- 
vited a hundred priests to the Nanden of the Chugu, in order 
to expound the Ninnokyo, and at the same time she had it ex- 
plained in all provinces. ® 

In A.D. 753 (Tempyo Shoho 5, III 29), under the same Empress, 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 512; Aston 11, p. 335. 

2 K. T. K. VI, Ch. v, p. 526. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 510; Aston 11, p. 332. 

■* Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 566; Aston 11, p. 413. Cf. Fuso ryakki, Ch. v, p. 530. 

® Shoku Nihongi (written by Sugeno no Memichi in A.D. 797), K. T. K. 
II, Ch. X, p. 171. 

® Ibid., Ch. XVI, p. 263. 

’’ Ibid., Ch. XVII, p. 271. 

® Ibid., Ch. XVIII, p. 294. 



118 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


a hundred high seats were arranged in Todaiji and the Ninnokyo 
was expounded. But that day a heavy storm arose so that the 
meeting had to be closed before the end of the ceremony. The 
next month (IV 9), when the siitra was explained a second time, 
a storm again broke forth. * 

In A.D. 756 (Tempyo Shoho 8, XII 5), under the same Empress, 
a hundred priests were again invited to Todaiji and tendoku 
(partial reading) of the Ninnokyo took place. ^ 

In A.D. 757 (Tempyo Hoji 1, Vll 24) the Empress gave a ve- 
getarian entertainment to the monks (sessai, sai wo mokuru) in 
the Palace and had them expound the Ninnokyo. ® 

In A.D. 760 (Tempyo Hoji 4,1129) the Emperor Junnin arranged 
a Ninno-e in the Palace and in Todaiji. 

In A.D. 770 (Hoki 1, I 15) the Empress Shstoku (identical with 
KQken Tenno) held a Ninno-e in the Palace.® 

In A.D. 772 (Hoki 3, VI 15) the Emperor Konin had a NinnB-e 
held in the Palace, all the large and small Buddhist temples of 
the capital and in all the Kokubim-konkwomyoji (Provincial State 
monasteries, erected in A.D. 741) of the country. ® 

In A.D. 794 (Enryaku 13, IX 9) the Emperor Kwammu (A.D. 
781 — 806) forbade the killing of living beings {kindan sessho) for 
three days in all provinces of the Empire, on account of the 
expounding of the Ninnokyo. And on the 29th of the same month 
he invited a hundred Buddhist priests and had them explain this 
siitra in the new Palace at Kyoto (evidently to consecrate the 
building and to bless the new capital). ’ 

' Ibid., Ch. xix, p. 303. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XIX, p. 317. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 334. 

■* Ibid., Ch. XXII, p. 379. 

® Ibid., Ch. XXX, p. 519. 

® Ibid., Ch. XXXII, p. 561. 

’ Nihon kiryaku, Zempen (Kokushi taikei, Vol. V), Ch. xiii, p. 372. 



Ninnokyo (translations and commentaries). 


119 


§ 2. The text of the sutra. 

§ 2, A. The old translation of the Ninnokyo, and its 
commentaries (Tien-t'ai sect). 

The Ninnokyo ( ) is one of the most important sufras 

of Japanese Buddhism. In order to understand why from the 
seventh to the thirteenth century this text and the ceremony con- 
nected with it (the Ninno-e, 'fzl 3E ^ “Meeting of the Be- 
nevolent Kings”) were so prominent among the sutras and cere- 
monies read and celebrated at the Japanese Court, we first have 
to examine its contents. 

The Chinese Tripitaka contains two translations of this sutra, 
by KumarajTva and Amoghavajra. The title of KumarajTva’s trans- 
lation (NanjS No. 17, A.D. 402 — 412), which consists of two 
fasciculi and eight chapters, is fz! 3E ^ ® ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
Jen-wang hu-kwoh pan-je po-lo-mih king, in Japanese pro- 
nuncation Ninnd gokoku hannya haramitsu kyQ, i. e. “PrajnB- 
paramita-sutra (explaining) how benevolent kings (karunika-rdja) 
may protect their countries”. 

This translation was used by the Tien-t'ai (Tendai) sect in 
China and Japan, which also had recourse to the two commen- 
taries (Nanjo Nos. 1566 and 1567) entitled 

“A commentary on the Prajnaparamita-sutra on the 
protection of countries by benevolent kings”, and 
M M ^ ^ ^ ^ commonly called p 

W fB' Shen-pao-ki (Shimboki) or “Record of Divine Treasures”, 
a commentary on No. 1566. The former work, written by Kwan- 
ting, ^ (A.D. 561 — 632), the fifth patriarch of the Tien-t'ai 

School, ’ contains the oral explanations of his famous teacher, 
Chi-i (:^ ^)» better known by his posthumous title Chi-ch6 

Ta-shi, ^ ^ iSiS , “The Great Master the Wise Man” 


' Nanjo, App, in, 15. 



120 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(A.D. 531—597), the founder (and fourth patriarch) of the 
same school. * It consists of five chapters, the third and fourth 
of which refer to the second and third chapters of the sutra, 
whereas the fifth explains the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh 
and eighth chapters. 

The Shen-pao-ki ^ fE) (Nanjo No. 1567) dates from 
much later times. It was compiled in A.D. 1230 by the Tien-tai 
priest Shen-yueh, of the Southern Sung dynasty. ^ It 

consists of four chapters and is a commentary on No. 1566. These 
commentaries are not important for the study of the ceremonies 
relating to this sutra. 

The Bukkyd daijii (III, p. 3742, 1), which states that Amogha- 
vajra’s translation is much used, enumerates thirteen commentaries 
on the Ninnokyo, most of which, however, belong to the Tendai, 
Sanron, Kegon and Hosso sects and not to the Tantric S'jhool. 
The first of those commentators is Paramartha (;^ f^) (App. 11 
104, 105, translated A.D. 548—569); then follow Chi-ch6 Ta-shi 
(A.D. 531 — 597), the founder of the T‘ien-t‘ai school, mentioned 
above (Nanjo No. 1566) and Kih-tsang (A.D. 549 — 623, 

the founder of the San lun sect in China. The next four are 
Yuen-ts‘eh, Liang-pi, Yii-yung (jJJ i|lj, ^ ?§ ^) ^nd the 

Korean Tsing-yuen vi^)» of the Northern Sung dynasty, A.D. 
960 — 1127) {Avatamsaka school), the second of whom (Liang-pi 
of the T'ang dynasty) wrote a commentary on the new trans- 
lation (that of Amoghavajra). ® Kia-siang (^jj^), called after 
the Chinese monastery of that name, is probably Kih-tsang, 

but also Hwui-kiao, mm, of the Liang dynasty, who in 
A.D. 519 compiled Nanjo No. 1490, was designated in this way. * 

As to the Japanese commentaries, two of them are writings of 
unknown^ authors; the other works belong to the Hosso sect 

' Nanjo, App. in, 12. 

^ Nanjo, App. iii, 67. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1368, 3; p. 1018, 2, s. v. Seiryusho. 

* Daijiten, p. 189, 3, s. v. Kajo. 



Ninnokyo {translations and commentaries). 


121 


(written by Qyoshin, ^ , who died A.D. 750), but especially 

to the Tendai school. Saicho (DengyS Daishi, A.D. 

767 — 822) wrote a commentary on the old translation, and Enchin 
(0 (Chisho Daishi, ^ ^ , A.D. 814—891) on that 

of Amoghavajra. Other Tendai commentaries are those of Kakucho 
about A.D. 1028), Ryojo (j^ about A.D. 1299), 
and Kwoken {-^ who lived 1652 — 1739). How important 
the Ninnokyo was to the Tendai sect even in the nineteenth 
century is evident from the fact that in 1817 the ascetic Tendai 
priest Ryo-a ) (1800—1882) copied this sutra with his 

blood, as well as the Hokkekyo, the Konkwomyokyo and the 
Bosatsukai-kyo. ‘ 


^ 2, B. The later translation of the Ninnokyo, and its 
commentaries (Tantric School). 

Not less famous than Kumarajrva was the author of the second 
translation, Amoghavajra commonly abbreviated 

into ^ Amogha) (A.D. 705 — 774), who with his teacher 
Vajrabodhi arrived in China in A.D. 719. After having travelled 
in India from A.D. 732 to 746, he returned to the Chinese capital 
with more than 500 different texts, Sutras and Sastras, and from 
then to A.D. 771 he translated 77 works in more than 120 fasci- 
culi. He stated this in a memorial, presented to the Emperor 
Tai-tsung in A.D. 771, together with all his translations. This 
very active and influential priest was the mightiest propagator of 
the Tantric School in China. - In A.D. 765 the Emperor Tai-tsung 
A.D. 762 — 779) wrote a preface to Amoghavajra’s trans- 
lation of the Sutra of the Benevolent Kings (Nanjo No; 965, 

^J^). ’ The text is divided into 

' Washio, p. 1208, 1, s. v. Ryo-a. 

^ Nanjo, App. n, 155. 

® Cf. Edkins, Chinese Buddhism, p. 124 sqq. 



122 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


two fasciculi and eight chapters, like that of the old translation, 
but here (in the new translation) 36 dharani's are given towards 
the end of the seventh chapter fasc. II, pp. 14 sq.), 

which are lacking in KumarajTva’s work. Amoghavajra made it 
one of the important sutras of the Tantric School, as he did too 
with the MahamayurT sutra. ' He also translated three treatises 
in order to explain the dharani's (Nanjo No. 1406),^ to define 
the “Ceremony of reciting (the dharani of) this sutra" (Nanjo 
No. 1419), ^ and to expound the place of worship and the recital 
of the text (Nanjo No. 1435). ■* All these works belong to the 
Tantric School, and in Japan the mystic rites were performed by 
Shingon priests. 

The T'ang priest Liang-pi (Ryobi), mentioned above, wrote a 
commentary on the new translation, which is popularly called 
the ^ hI ^ {Seiryusho, Ts‘ing-lung-shu), because he,.lived 
in the monastery of that name. 

There is also a commentary (kaidai), from the hand of the 
great Tendai priest Enchin (Chisho Daishi), mentioned above. 

The following are commentaries on Amoghavajra’s translation, 
written by Japanese Shingon priests: \hQ Ninnokyo kaidai { 
and the Ninnokyo-bo ( m ) by Kukai (Kobo Daishi, A.D. 774 — 835), 
and the commentaries of Shinkaku (^Ci**^) (A.D. 1181), Dohan 

(^^) (A.D. 1184 — 1252), Raiyu (Shingi Shingon, 

A.D. 1226—1304), and Ryota (1622—1680). 

§ 2, C. How the two translations of the Ninnokyd were used. 

Amoghavajra’s translation was used in the “Rite of the Sutra 
of the Benevolent Kings", Ninnokyobo, practised 

' Cf. my treatise on “Die Pfauenkonigin in China and Japan”, Ost- 
asiatische Zeitschrift, jahrg. viii (Festschrift Prof. Hirth) (1920), pp. 370-387. 

2 Ninnd-hannya-darani-shaku (8 leaves). 

^ Ninnd-hannya-nenjuhd (7 leaves). 

* Ninnd-gokoku-hannya-haramita-ddjo-nenju-giki (1 fasc., 5 divisions). 



Ninnokyd (use of the two translations). 


123 


by the Shingon sect in the Toji, ^ ^ , the famous Shingon 
temple in Kyoto. The “Meetings of the Benevolent Kings" , Ninno-e, 
^ ^ however, belonged to the public cult, ' and for this 
reason KumarajTva’s version may have been the orthodox text in 
performing these ceremonies. Yet in China the first of these 
meetings of a hundred seats, as prescribed in the sutra, is said 
to have been presided in A.D. 765 by Amoghavajra, by order of 
the Chinese Emperor Tai-tsung (A.D. 762 — 779), and the new 
translation (with a preface by the Emperor himself) was used in 
order to cause rain. - In Japan, however, there was such a meeting 
in the fifth month of the sixth year of the reign of the Empress 
Saimei (A.D. 655 — 661), Shdtoku Taishi’s grand-daughter, i. e. 
A.D. 660; a hundred seats were erected in the Imperial Palace 
on behalf of a hundred priests, each of whom was presented by 
the Empress with a priestly robe (kSshaya). ^ In the third month, 
the sutra had been read in the Palace beforehand. Thus the old 
translation, that of KumarajTva, was used in Japan a century be- 
fore Amoghavajra’s time, and we may be sure that also in China 
“Meetings of the Benevolent Kings” were held in the seventh 
century, probably by priests of the T‘ien-t‘ai sect. In the Chinese 
Tripitaka of Japan (the great edition of Leiden and of the India 
Office) KumarajTva’s text is explained on behalf of the Japanese 
readers by means of okuri-gana and the other well-known signs 
of the kundoku, which are lacking in Amoghavajra’s translation. 
This is evidence of the fact that the old text was much used in 
Japan; although Amoghavajra’s translation was also in frequent 
use. The Ninno-e being performances of a public cult and not 


’ Cf. Himitsu jirin, p. 839, s. v. Ninno-e. 

2 Cf. the great Chinese encyclopaedia entitled K‘in-ting ku-kin t'u-sha 

tsih-ch‘ing, (published in 1725), Vol. 

986, Ch. 60 ( ^ ^ ^ , ^ ZH ). P- 5 h sqq. Further, Daijiten, p. 1369, 
s. V. Ninno-e. 

3 Genko Shakusho, K. T. K. xiv, Ch. xxi, p. 993. Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, p.467; 
Nihon kiryaku, Ch. viii, K, T. .K. v, p. 190. 



124 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


belonging to the mystic rites, it is quite possible that the original 
way of celebrating them by means of KumarajTva’s translation of 
the sutra was maintained in later ages, while on the other hand 
the Shingon priests practised the mystic “Rite of the Sutra of 
the Benevolent Kings'’ {Ninnokydbo) by means of Amoghavajra’s 
version. The Ninnd-e were also called Ninno-ga ( 3E '0^ > 
“Offerings of the Benevolent Kings”). ‘ The three kinds of Ninnd-e 
will be treated below. 

§ 2, D. The eight chapters of the Ninnokyo. 


The titles of the eight chapters of the two translations 
are as follows; 


Old translation (No. 17). 

New translation (No. 965). 

Section 1. 

Section I. 

1. jy. Preface (pp. 2a — 46). 

1. Preface (pp. 26 — 5a). 

2. Considering Empti- 

2. Considering the 

ness (pp. 46 — 7a). 

Tathagata (pp. 5a— 8a). 

Instruction 

3. ^ ^ ^ , Actions (to be 

and conversion (to be prac- 

performed by) the Bodhi- 

tised by) the Bodhisattvas 

sattvas (pp. 8a — 18a). 

(pp. 76 — 166). 


4. Zl The Two Reflections 

4. Zl 1^, The Two Reflections 

(Truths) (pp. 166 — 196). 

(Truths) pp. 18a — 21a). 


' Daijiten, p. 1368, s. v. Ninnogu. 





Ninnokyo (titles of the chapters). 


125 


Old translation (No. 17). 

New translation (No. 965). 

Section 11. 

Section II. 

5. ^ ^ , Protecting the coun- 

5. ^ ^ , Protecting the coun- 

try (pp. la — 4a). 

try (pp. la — 36). 

6. Spreading flowers 

6- ^ ^ > Miracles (pp. 36- 

pp. 46 — 5a). 

5a). 

7. Receiving and keep- 

7. ^ ij^, Respectfully receiving 

ing (this Sutra) (pp. 5a-13a). 

and keeping (this Sc^ra) (pp. 


5a — 1 6a). 

8. ^ > (The Buddha) com- 

8. 58 M Buddha) com- 

mits (this Sutra and theTri- 

mits (this Sutra and the Tri- 

ratna to the Kings) (pp. 13a — 

ratna to the Kings) (pp, 16a — 

15a). 

18a). 


Thus we see that the division and size of the two trans- 
lations are nearly the same; KumarajTva only omitted the dha- 
ranls (in ch. 7), whereas in Amoghavajra’s version the final five 
lines of ch. 4 of the old translation (section I, ch. 4, p. 19b), 
where the Buddha composes the name of the Sutra, are found 
at the end of the final chapter. As KumarajTva “seldom made a 
full translation, but preferred to give an abstract of the original” ' 
(as he did with the MahamayurJ sutra), we can easily deduce 
the great importance he attached to our sutra from the fact that 
he translated it in full. 

§ 2, E. The first chapter (^, Jo, Preface) of the Ninnokyo. 

One day the Buddha stayed on the Grdhrakuta near Rajagrha 
with a large crowd of bhiksus, all Arhats, of Rsis, Bodhisattvas, 
sages, devout women, hermits, the kings of the Six Devalokas, 
sixteen kings of countries, and innumerable other living 


‘ Nanjo No. 15, p. 7, 







126 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan, 


beings of the five gati. In the new translation, which we hence- 
forth shall follow because it was used in the “Rite of the Sutra 
of the Benevolent Kings”, those assembled at this meeting are 
enumerated as follows: “bhiksus and bhiksunJs, upasakas and 
upasikas (lay-members of both sects), Sixteen Great Kings 
of countries (king Ptasenajit etc.) with many thousands and 
ten-thousands of followers, the Kings of the Six Devalokas {Cakra 
Deva etc.) with their numberless followers (deva-sons), and innu- 
merable sentient beings of the gati (Asuras etc.)”. 

Further, in a miraculous way the “Pure Lands” ('^ ±) oi 
the ten quarters were made visible, and a hundred koti (myriads) 
of lion seats, upon which Buddhas were seated, broadly ex- 
pounding the main points of the Law. Before each seat one 
flower was seen, and each of these flowers was adorned with a 
precious stone. Further, there were innumerable Buddhas and 
Bodhisattvas, bhiksus and beings of the eight classes (Devas, 
Nagas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, Asuras, Garudas, Kinnaras and Ma- 
horagas). Among them the Buddhas all explained the Prajha- 
paramita to all sides. And the whole crowd bowed before the 
Buddha’s feet and retired to their seats on one side. 

At that time the Venerable of the World had entered the great, 
silent, quiet, wonderful Samadhi (deep meditation), and his body 
emitted a great, brilliant light over all the Buddha lands of the 
ten quarters. And the innumerable Devas of the Devalokas caused 
wonderful flowers to rain, and the Devas of the Rupalokas also 
sent down a rain of heavenly flowers, as well as those of the 
third of the three regions, the world without form (comprising four 
heavens). These odorous flowers descended like a cloud and covered 
the large crowd, and all the six kinds of Buddha worlds shook. 

Then King Prasenajit of SravastT and the large crowd all 
asked in vain, why the Tathagata emitted such a brilliant light, 
what lucky sign this might be. And King Prasenajit and the other 
kings, having received the Buddha’s divine power, made a far 
sounding music, and all the devas of the worlds of desire and 



Ninnokyo (first chapter). 


127 


form did the same, causing it to resound all over the three 
thousands, great thousands (i. e. milliards) of worlds. 

Then the Tathagata again emitted numberless rays of mixed 
colours, and in each ray he caused a precious, thousand-leaved, 
gold-coloured lotus flower to appear, upon each of which a Buddha 
was seated, preaching the Law. This light of the Buddha shone 
over all the Buddha lands of the ten quarters. And from these 
Buddha lands ten Bodhisattvas, each with a retinue of innume- 
rable • Bodhisattvas, came to the place of meeting, holding all 
kinds of incense, spreading all kinds of flowers, making immea- 
surable music, which they all offered to the Tathagata. They bowed 
before his feet, then silently retired to their seats, joined their hands 
and gazed at the Buddha, reverently and with their whole heart. 


These ten Bodhisattvas were : 


East 


Universal Light 

Samantaprabha 

South-East 


Lotus-hand 

Padmapani 

South 


Rid of Sorrow 

Vigatasoka ' 

South-West 


Brilliant Light 

Rasmiprabhasa 

West 


He who is disposed 
to good conduct 

Caritramati (?) ^ 

North-West 


Precious Conqueror 

Ratnajaya (jina?) 

North 


Receiver of Victory 

Jayapratigraha (?) 

North-East 


Rid of Dust 

Vigatarajas (?) 

Upper region 


Receiver of Joy 

Nandapratigraha (?) 

Lower region 


Lotus Conqueror 

Padmajina (?) 


‘ Rosenberg, Vocabulary, p. 496, 2. 

2 Cf. Mahavyutpatti 23—37. Dr. Rahder, who kindly gave we most of 
these equivalents, informed we that is not prajna, but mati, mind, 

disposition ( ) ; thus is Jayamati. 



128 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


The old translation gives only the names of the Bodhisattvas 
of the four principal quarters : 


South 


Talent (hero) of 
the Law 

1 

1 

' Dharmasura (?) 

East 

mm 

Precious Pillar 

Ratnasthuna (?) 

North 


Nature of Empty 
Space 

Akasamaya (?) 

West 

mu. 

Maintainer of Virtue 

Supratishtha (?) ' 


§ 2, F. The second chapter of the Ninnokyo (Kwan Nyorai, 

Contemplating the Buddha). 


In KumarajTva’s translation the title of this chapter is Hg 
“Contemplating Emptiness”. As a matter of fact “Emptiness” is 
its main subject. But the highest Emptiness, the “Great Emp- 
tiness” ^)t is, according to Hlnayana partial Nirvana, ac- 
cording to Mahayana Parinirvana, the “Emptiness of Emptiness”, 
which the Secret School represented by means of the sound A 
(P^)- Testifying (^) to this “Great Emptiness” is called “Wis- 
dom of the Great Emptiness” 

Then the Tathagata awoke from samadhi and rising from his 
lion seat he spoke to the large crowd; “1 know that the Sixteen 
Kings all have this thought; ‘The Tathagata’s Great Compassion 
everywhere spreads benefits and joy. We, the Kings, say: “How 
shall we protect our countries?”’ But I shall first explain on 
behalf of the Bodhisattvas, how to protect the Buddha fruit and 
how to protect the actions of the ten stages {dasabhumi, forming 
the whole career of a Bodhisattva). ® You must all listen atten- 
tively and virtuously think about it”. 

' Rosenberg, 1. 1., p. 85, 3. 

* Cf. Daijiten, p. 1129. 

® Cf. Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 67 ;Ra.hder, Da^abhumika sutra. 




Ninnokyo {second chapter). 


129 


Then the large crowd, King Prasenajit etc., on hearing the 
Buddha’s words, all praised him, saying: “llow virtuous! How 
virtuous!” And they spread innumerable flowers, wonderful and 
precious, into the air, and made them into precious parasols 
which covered the large crowd on all sides. Then King Prasenajit 
rose from his seat, made a prostration before the Buddha’s feet. 
Joined his hands and, kneeling down, spoke to the Buddha, saying : 
“Tathagata, the Bodhisattvas Mahasattvas say : ‘How shall we 
protect the Buddha fruit? How shall we protect the actions of 
the ten stages?”’ 

Then the Buddha, addressing King Prasenajit, answers his 
questions concerning the protection of the Buddha fruit. The 
emptiness of everything is illustrated and manifested by the deep 
Prajna-paramita. Eighteen kinds of Emptiness are enumerated 
(p. (thirteen in the old translation), culminating in the Emp- 
tiness of the Prajna-paramita, of the Nidanas, of the Buddha 
fruit, and of Emptiness itself. Finally King Prasenajit explains his 
ideas about Buddhahood, which are approved by the Buddha. 

§ 2, G. The third chapter of the Ninnokyo 
( ^ ^ ^ ) Bosatsu-gyo, the Bodhisattya Path). 

Then the Buddha at King Prasenajit’s request dealt with the 
actions of the Bodhisattvas and their converting the living beings, 
whereupon all those present rose from their seats, spread innu- 
merable flowers and burned incense as an offering to the Buddha, 
and reverently praised him. And King Prasenajit, standing before 
the Tathagata, spoke a long hymn (gatha) in praise of him and 
of the fourteen Bodhisattvas (kings), representing the fourteen 
kinds of forbearance {ksanti, ^), explained by the Buddha. ' 

‘ Cf. Bukkyo daijiten, pp. 1362 sqq., s. v. nin, . Each of the 
gonin, five kinds of forbearance, is divided into three degrees, the upper, 
middle and lower degree, except the last one, which has only two degrees. 

9 



130 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


And the Venerable of the World said to all those present; 
“Ten thousand kalpas ago this King Prasenajit was King Naga- 
prabha (or Nagarasmi?) ( slit I ), a Bodhisattva of the fourth 
stage, while I was a Bodhisattva of the eighth stage. And now, 
standing before me, he has uttered a lion’s howl (preaching) like 
this, like this!” And again the Buddha digressed upon the wonder- 
ful blessing power of the fourteen kinds of forbearance, practised 
by the Bodhisattvas of the ten stages. And by this preaching 
numberless men and devas among the audience reached one of 
the ten stages of Bodhisattvahood, and numberless Bodhisattvas 
were advanced on their way to Buddhahood. 


§ 2, H. The fourth chapter of the Ninnokyo. 

(The two kinds of truth, Nitai, * 

At King Prasenajlt’s request the difference is explained between 
the “Vulgar Truth” (sezoku-tai, iH; 'fS- sarhvrti-satya, 
which only refers to the outer appearance of the world) and the 
“Truth of the first meaning” (dai-ichi gi, ^ mostly 

called the “Real Truth” {shintai, paramartha-satya, 

These five are; duku, shin, jun, musho (or mushoho), jakumetsa-nin, ik, 
)ii, ^^^ (^) and i. e. Forbearance of Subjection 

(of the reasons of suffering). Belief, Following (the Bodhi-road), No Rebirth, 
and Nirvana. The first of the five does not yet represent a bhumi (stage of 
the Bodhisattvas), but the three degrees of lower virtue (^^ 
second kind of forbeance belongs to the first, second and third bhumi-, the 
third kind refers to the fourth, fifth and sixth bhumi\ the fourth kind regards 
the seventh, eighth and ninth bhumi-, and the fifth kind concerns the tenth 
or highest bhumi and Perfect Enlightenment. As to these kinds of forbearance, 
ksanti, cf. Prof, de la Valide Poussin's translation of and annotations on 
Vasubandhu’s Abhidharmakoia {VAbhidharmakoia de Vasubandhu, Ch. v. 
No. 6, pp. 13 sq. ; Ch. VI, No. 26 c.). With regard to the dakabhumi cf. 
Dr. Rahder’s Daiabhumika sutra. 



Ninnokyo {third and fourth chapters). 131 

which is free from errors and consists of the views of the Sages 
concerning the nature {risho, of things. ' 

After having dealt with this subject in verse and prose, the 
Tathagata praises the immeasurable blessing power of the Prajna- 
paramita, which, being expounded by the Buddhas, causes innu- 
merable sentient beings to reach Buddhahood. Whoever in reading 
this sutra can form one thought of pure belief, thus passes over 
ten thousands of kalpas of birth and death and suffering. How 
much greater is its blessing power to those who copy and keep 
and read it, thus obtaining salvation and protection from all the 
Buddhas and speedily reaching anuttara samyaksambodhi (the 
complete wisdom of the Buddhas). 

By these words of the Tathagata many myriads among the 
audience reached different stages of Bodhisattvahood. Here the 
fourth^ chapter of the new translation is concluded, but in the 
old translation the Buddha goes on speaking about the name of 
the sutra and its blessing power as regards the protection 
of countries, of houses, and of the bodies of all 
living beings. It may be called the Medicine of the Law for 
all kings of countries; when they use it, it will be very useful 
in protecting their homes and all that lives; this Prajha-paramita 
shall protect them as walls and swords and shields. 

It is clear that these lines cannot have belonged to the original 
text, if the Buddha’s words end before the statement about the 
great number of hearers of his preaching who reached a higher 
stage by it. Amoghavajra’s translation seems to give the right 
text; he concludes the chapter with the words: “When he (the 
Buddha) explained this Law there were ten 

myriads of men etc.” KumarajTva, however, apparently considers 
this line as belonging to the Buddha’s words: “Then, when the 
large crowds hear them explain this sutra 

ten myriads of men shall reach etc.”. And here the 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 1330, s.v. nitai, and p. 1096, s.v. tai. 



132 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Buddha continues; “Great Kings, the name of this sutra is: t: 

Prajna-paramita sutra (in answer 
to) the questions of benevolent kings”, etc. The last lines of the 
second and third chapters, however, agree with Amoghavajra's 
translation, and KumarajTva’s final lines of the fourth chapter are 
out of place. In Amoghavajra’s translation they are found at the 
end of the last chapter, which must be the right place. 


§ 2, I. The fifth chapter of the Ninnokyo {Protecting the 
country, Gokoku, ^ ^ ). 

Here the second section of the sutra begins. This chapter is 
the main part of the text, as it deals with its principal object, 
the protection of countries. The Buddha said to the great kings: 
“Listen attentively, listen attentively! Now I shall explain on your 
behalf the Law of Protecting the Country. In all countries, when 
riots are imminent, calamities are descending, or robbers are 
coming in order to destroy (the houses and possessions of the 
inhabitants), you, the Kings, ought to receive and keep and read 
this Prajna-paramita, solemnly to adorn the place of worship 
(the altar), to place (there) a hundred Buddha images, a hundred 
images of Bodhisattvas, a hundred lion-seats, to invite 
a hundred Dharma-masters (priests) that they may 
explain this sutra. And before the seats you must light all 
kinds of lamps, burn all kinds of incense, spread all kinds 
of flowers. You must liberally offer clothes, and bedding, food 
and medicine, houses, beds and seats, all offerings, and every 
day you must read this sutra for two hours. If kings, great 
ministers, monks and nuns, male and female lay-members of the 
community, listen to it, receive and read it, and act according 
to the Law, the calamities shall be extinguished. Great Kings, in 
the countries there are innumerable demons and spirits, each of 
whom has innumerable relatives (followers) ; if they hear this 



Ninnokyo {fifth chapter). 


133 


sUtra, they shall protect your countries. If riots are 
imminent, the demons and spirits are uproarious beforehand, and 
it is for this reason that the people revolt; then robbery arises, 
and the hundred families (the people) perish; the Kings and the 
Crown-princes, the princes and the hundred magistrates mutually 
do right and wrong. If unnatural things happen in heaven and 
on the earth : the sun, the moon and the stars lose their times 
and their courses, and great fires, inundations and storms are 
prevalent, if all these calamities arise, all people must receive 
and keep and read this prajna-paramiia. If they receive and keep 
and read this sutra, all their desires shall be fulfilled ; they shall 
obtain rank and wealth, sons and daughters, wisdom and intelli- 
gence, success in their actions, human and heavenly rewards. 
The dangers of disease and pestilence shall be removed from 
them,^and if fetters, the cangue or chains restrain and bind their 
bodies, they shall be released. Even if they have broken the four 
Important commandments, committed the five evils and violated 
all the commandments, even immeasurable crimes shall all be 
wiped out". 

Thereupon the Buddha relates how in olden times Sakra {Indra), 
the Ruler of the Devas, caused the four armies of king Murdhaja- 
raja, who came to attack his heavenly abode and to destroy 
Sakra himself, to retire only by the power of the Prajnd-pdramita 
sutra, read by a hundred priests at his request. Sakra thus fol- 
lowed the Law of the former Buddhas, and peace and joy returned 
among the devas. 

In a second tale, related by the Buddha, the conversion of a 
thousand kings is described. When the Crown-prince of Devala '■ 
ascended the throne, he was baptized by a heterodox priest, who 
ordered him to take the heads of a thousand kings in order to 

' ® tDctijiten, p. 1258, s. v. Tenra-koku. His name was 

, ibid., p. 1435, s. v. Hansoku d, where the ^ Ch. xi, 

and this passage are quoted. 



134 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


sacrifice them to Mahakala Deva in the grave (of his father). 
After having caught 999 kings he went ten thousand miles to the 
North and found a king, called „Universal Light” , Samanta- 

prabhdsa). The latter requested him to allow him to hold a service 
one day in honour of the Triratna and give drink and food to 
the monks. After having obtained the conqueror’s permission he 
followed the doctrine, preached by the Buddhas of the past (the 
older translation says: “the seven Buddhas”), had a hundred 
high seats prepared and invited a hundred priests to 
explain eight thousand milliards of gathas (hymns) on the Prajha- 
paramita one day during two hours. 

Then the first of those priests explained a hymn on behalf of 
king Samantaprabhasa, who, on hearing the Law, rose with all 
his relatives to a high degree of enlightenment. When they arrived 
in Devala, he caused the other 999 kings, whom he addressed 
as “Benevolent Ones”, to read the gathas on the Prajna-paramita, 
whereupon they all reached the same degree of “Samadhi of 
Emptiness” (^ Then the king of Devala asked, which 

doctrine they were reading, and on hearing King Samantaprabhasa 
reciting the hymn, explained to him by the priest, he too was 
converted and danced with joy. Now he said to the thousand 
kings: „I was deceived by a heterodox priest. Return to your 
countries and invite Buddhist priests to explain the Prajha-para- 
mita”. And he himself became a monk and obtained the “For- 
bearance of the Law of Redemption from rebirth” (^ ^ ^ 
i. e. the fourth of the five kinds of forbearance, representing the 
seventh, eighth and ninth bhumi (stage) of the Bodhisattvas. ' 
“Great Kings”, continued the Tathagata, „there were in former 
times 5000 kings of countries, who always read this sutra, and 
who in their present life have got their reward. In the same way 
you, sixteen Great Kings, must practise the Rite of Protecting 
the Country, and you must keep, read and explain this sutra. If 


‘ Cf. above, this paragraph, G, p. 129 sq., note 1. 



Ninnokyo (sixth chapter). 


135 


in future ages the kings of countries wish to protect their king- 
doms and to protect their own bodies, they too must act in the 
same way”. 

When the Buddha explained this doctrine, numberless men ob- 
tained “not to turn back” , avaivartya, i.e. going straight 

to Nirvana), Asuras obtained to be reborn in a heaven, and 
numberless devas of the worlds of desire and form got the “for- 
bearance of no rebirth”. 

§ 2, K. The sixth chapter of the Ninnokyo (Miracles, 
Fushigi, vQ. ^ ). 

Then the sixteen kings of countries and the whole large crowd, 
on hearing the Buddha explain the very profound meaning of 
this Prajha-paramita, danced with joy and spread innumerable 
precious lotus flowers in the air. These flowers became precious 
lotus seats, upon which the numberless Buddhas of the ten quarters 
were seated and explained the Prajna-paramita. Thus various 
flower miracles took place in the air, and the Prajha-pQramita 
was expounded by Buddhas and great Bodhisattvas. King Pra- 
senajit and the whole crowd joined their hands and said to the 
Buddha: “We wish that in past, present and future the Buddhas 
may always explain the Prajha-paramita, and that the living beings 
may always see and hear what we see and hear to-day”. The 
Buddha answered; “Great Kings, this Prajha-paramita is the 
mother of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, and the 
origin of blessing and supernatural power. As the 
Buddhas by explaining it in the same way can create much 
benefit, you must always receive and keep it”. Then the Tathagata 
on behalf of the great crowd showed his wonderful supernatural 
power by means of five miracles, putting one flower into num- 
berless flowers, and these again into one; one Buddha-land into 
innumerable Buddha-lands and vice-versa; one of the countries, 
numerous as the particles of dust, into innumerable such countries. 



136 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and vice-versa; an immeasurable sea into the hole of a hair, and 
the immeasurable Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed ; one Buddha 
body into innumerable bodies of living beings, and vice-versa. 
Thus he caused large things to appear as small ones, and small 
things as large, pure things as dirty and dirty ones as pure. At 
the sight of these miracles ten thousand women became men and 
obtained the samadhi of supernatural power, numberless devas 
and men obtained the “forbearance of the Law of not being 
reborn” (the 7th, 8th and 9th stages of Bodhisattvahood), innu- 
merable Asuras attained the Bodhisattva road, and Bodhisattvas 
became Buddhas. 


§ 2, L. The seventh chapter of the Ninnokyd 

{Respectfully receiving and keeping this sUtra, Hoji, 

1. General contents of this chapter. 

This is a very important chapter, as it deals with the rites 
and the images of the Five Bodhisattvas. 

After having explained how virtuous men can get the clear 
insight mentioned in this sutra by practising the different kinds 
of forbearance up to the vajra-samadhi ( &Wi|^ ) and always 
performing the ten acts of virtue, the Buddha expatiates in prose 
and verse on the Bodhisattvas of the ten stages {bhumi). These 
stages are called kwangi-ji ( Mr the stage of joy, rikuji 
), the stage of absence of filth (of passions) etc., 
well-known from other texts. ^ All these Bodhisattvas receive, 
keep and explain the Law and, going to the Buddha-lands, obtain 
perfect enlightenment. He also speaks about practising the 84000 
paramitds, i. e. the numberless ways leading to Nirvana. 

‘ Cf. Kern, Manual of Buddhism, p. 67, note 7; Rahder, Daiabhumika- 
sutra\ De Harlez, Vocabulaire bouddhique sanscrit-chinois. No. 19, p. 25 sq. 
(T’oung-pao vii 4, vm 2). 



Ninnokyo (seventh chapter). 


137 


Then the Tathagata states that at the time when after his death 
the Law shall be about to be extinguished and all the sentient 
beings shall commit evil deeds, in the countries all kinds of 
calamities shall arise. Then all the kings, crown-princes, queens 
and their relatives, the hundred officials and the hundred families 
(the people) of all the countries must receive and keep this 
Prajha-paramita, in order to protect themselves; and peace and 
joy shall be their reward. The Buddha commits this sutra to the 
kings of the countries and not to the monks ad nuns or to the 
male and female lay-members of the community, because these 
kings alone have the royal majesty and power, necessary to esta- 
blish the Law (in those times). Therefore these kings must receive 
and keep, read and explain this text, in order to drive away the 
seven calamities (-tl Si.) which may descend upon the 16 large, 
500 twiddle and 100000 small countries of JambudvTpa. 

These seven calamities are: 1) the sun and the moon lose 
their courses, or their colours change, or they are eclipsed, or 
surrounded by several haloes. 

2) The stars lose their courses, comets appear, the five planets 
change or appear in the day-time. 

3) Naga fire, demon fire, human fire and tree fire, the four 
great fires, arise and burn down everything. 

4) The seasons change: it rains and thunders in winter; there 
is hoar-frost, ice and snow in summer; it rains earth and stones, 
sand and pebbles; it hails at wrong times; it rains red or black 
water; the rivers swell and overflow, carrying stones and rocks 
along. 

5) Heavy storms arise, clouds cover the sun and the moon, 
houses are destroyed and trees uprooted ; sand and stones fly 
about. 

6) Excessive heat causes ponds to dry up, grass and trees to 
wither and die, and the hundred cereals to remain in a state of 
unripeness. 

7) From all sides enemies come to attack the country; internal 



136 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and vice-versa; an immeasurable sea into the hole of a hair, and 
the immeasurable Mount Sumeru into a mustard seed ; one Buddha 
body into innumerable bodies of living beings, and vice-versa. 
Thus he caused large things to appear as small ones, and small 
things as large, pure things as dirty and dirty ones as pure. At 
the sight of these miracles ten thousand women became men and 
obtained the samadhi of supernatural power, numberless devas 
and men obtained the “forbearance of the Law of not being 
reborn” (the 7th, 8th and 9th stages of Bodhisattvahood), innu- 
merable Asuras attained the Bodhisattva road, and Bodhisattvas 
became Buddhas. 

§ 2, L. The seventh chapter of the Ninnokyo 

{Respectfully receiving and keeping this sutra, Hoji, 

1. General contents of this chapter. 

This is a very important chapter, as it deals with the rites 
and the images of the Five Bodhisattvas. 

After having explained how virtuous men can get the clear 
insight mentioned in this sutra by practising the different kinds 
of forbearance up to the vajra-samadhi ( ^ |^|j ^ ) and always 
performing the ten acts of virtue, the Buddha expatiates in prose 
and verse on the Bodhisattvas of the ten stages {bhumi). These 
stages are called kwangi-ji ( the stage of joy, rikufi 

), the stage of absence of filth (of passions) etc., 
well-known from other texts. ^ All these Bodhisattvas receive, 
keep and explain the Law and, going to the Buddha-lands, obtain 
perfect enlightenment. He also speaks about practising the 84000 
paramitas, i. e. the numberless ways leading to Nirvana. 

’ Cf. Kern, Manual of Buddhism, p. 67, note 7; Rahder, DaSabhumika- 
sutra] De Harlez, Vocabulaire bouddhique sanscrit-chinois, No. 19, p. 25 sq. 
(T’oung-pao vil 4, viii 2). 



Ninnokyo {seventh chapter). 


137 


Then the Tathagata states that at the time when after his death 
the Law shall be about to be extinguished and all the sentient 
beings shall commit evil deeds, in the countries all kinds of 
calamities shall arise. Then all the kings, crown-princes, queens 
and their relatives, the hundred officials and the hundred families 
(the people) of all the countries must receive and keep this 
Prajna-paramita, in order to protect themselves; and peace and 
joy shall be their reward. The Buddha commits this sutra to the 
kings of the countries and not to the monks ad nuns or to the 
male and female lay-members of the community, because these 
kings alone have the royal majesty and power, necessary to esta- 
blish the Law (in those times). Therefore these kings must receive 
and keep, read and explain this text, in order to drive away the 
seven calamities ('bH ) which may descend upon the 16 large, 
500 raiddle and 100000 small countries of JambudvTpa. 

These seven calamities are: 1) the sun and the moon lose 
their courses, or their colours change, or they are eclipsed, or 
surrounded by several haloes. 

2) The stars lose their courses, comets appear, the five planets 
change or appear in the day-time. 

3) Naga fire, demon fire, human fire and tree fire, the four 
great fires, arise and burn down everything. 

4) The seasons change: it rains and thunders in winter; there 
is hoar-frost, ice and snow in summer; it rains earth and stones, 
sand and pebbles; it hails at wrong times; it rains red or black 
water; the rivers swell and overflow, carrying stones and rocks 
along. 

5) Heavy storms arise, clouds cover the sun and the moon, 
houses are destroyed and trees uprooted ; sand and stones fly 
about. 

6) Excessive heat causes ponds to dry up, grass and trees to 
wither and die, and the hundred cereals to remain in a state of 
unripeness. 

7) From all sides enemies come to attack the country; internal 



138 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

and external wars break out, and the hundred families go to ruin 
and death. 

In all calamities of heaven and earth this Prajna-paramita 
(i. e. this Sutra) must be received and kept, read and explained. 

On hearing these words of the Buddha, the sixteen kings were 
all terrified, and King Prasenajit asked the Tathagata, for what 
reasons there were these numberless calamities of heaven and 
earth. Then the Buddha answered that they were caused by 
impiety of the people towards their parents, by irreverence towards 
their teachers and elders, sromanas and brahmanas, kings and 
ministers, and by not acting according to the Correct Law (Saddhar- 
ma). And again he enumerated the blessing powers of this Prajna- 
paramita with regard to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, kings and 
all sentient beings. Like a precious pearl (mani) it gives them 
all kinds of virtues, it can protect them from poisonous Nagas 
and from the evil demons and spirits; it can fulfill the desires 
of human hearts and give them the title of a king or a pearl 
which grants all desires. It can cause the great Naga kings to 
send down a sweet and beneficent rain upon grasses and trees. 
It is like a brilliant light, placed upon a high standard in the 
darkness of night. 

"You, kings, must order precious flags and canopies to be made, 
light lamps and spread flowers, make extensive offerings, precious 
boxes and splendid sutras, and place these upon precious tables. 
When you are about to perform the ceremony, you always must 
lead (the performing priests) before these tables, and around the 
place of worship curtains made of the seven precious materials 
ought to be hung; seats ought to be made of all kinds of precious 
materials, and the sutras ought to be placed on these seats, and 
all kinds of offerings ought to be made as if serving your parents, 
or the devas, or Sakra, their ruler. Great kings, I see that all 
human kings have obtained this rank because in former ages they 
served the 500 Buddhas and respectfully made offerings to them, 
and that all holy men and those who obtained the fruit of the 



Ninnokyo {seventh chapter). 


139 


Law are reborn in their countries and cause great blessings. But 
if the felicity of those kings is exhausted and they do not walk 
in the Law, the holy men go away and violent calamities arise. 
Great kings, if in future ages the kings of the countries establish 
the Saddharma and protect the Triratna, I order the crowds of 
Boddhisattvas Mahasattvas of the five quarters to go and protect 
their countries. 

From the East side the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Vajrapani 
{Kongd-shu, ) shall come to protect those countries, 

carrying a vajra-club (litt. vajra-pestle, i. e. a vajra) Mlj 
kongo-sho) in his hand and emitting a red lustre; he shall be 
accompanied by four koti (forty millions) of Bodhisattvas. ' 

From the South side Vajraratna {Kongd-hd, 

shall come, holding a vajra-jewel (mani) {kongS-mani, ^ |i^|j 
mfL ) in his hand, and emitting a sun-coloured lustre; he too 
shall be accompanied by four koti of Bodhisattvas. - 

From the West side VajratTkshna {Kongo-ri, ^ iij ^1)) 
shall come, carrying a vajra-sword {kongo-ken, ^ ji^lj '^\) in 
his hand and emitting a golden lustre; he too shall be accom- 
panied by the same retinue of Bodhisattvas. ® 

From the North side Vajrayaksha {Kongo-yakusha, |{^|j 

^ 3^) shall come, carrying a vajra-bell {kongo-rei, j^|j 
in his hand and emitting a va/durya-coloured lustre; he too shall 
be accompanied by four koti of Bodhisattvas. 

From the Centre Vajraparamita {Kongo-haramita, 

Ml) ^ ^ ^ come, carrying a vajra-wheel {kongo-rin, 

Ml) 1^) emitting a five-coloured lustre; he too shall be 
accompanied by four koti of Bodhisattvas. 

All these Bodhisattvas shall cause great blessings to your 

' In the public cult his name is Samatnabhadra, 

2 In the public cult his name is Akaiagarbha (cf. NanjS No. 1406, 
p. 12b). 

® In the public cult his name is ManjuirT (cf. NanjS No. 1406, p. 13 a). 



140 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

countries. You ought to erect their images and to make offerings 
to them”. 

Then Vajrapani and the other Bodhisattvas rose from their seats, 
made a prostration before the Buddha’s feet, retired to one side 
and spoke to the Tathagata: “Venerable of the World, it is our 
original vow to receive the Buddha’s divine power and, if in the 
worlds of the ten quarters and in all the Buddha lands there are 
spots where this satra is received and kept, read and explained, 
to arrive there within a moment with all these followers in order 
to protect and erect the Saddharma, to cause those countries to 
be free from all calamities, war as well as pestilence, and to 
remove them all. Venerable of the World, we possess dharanis, 
which can maintain, embrace and protect ( ijll fefi ^ 
ago) (those who use them); this is what all the Buddhas origi- 
nally have practised and which causes a speedy salvation?. If a 
man once hears this sutra, all obstacles of crime are taken away; 
how much more is its blessing power, if he reads and studies it! 
By means of the majestic power of the Law we shall cause the 
countries to be always free from all kinds of calamities”. 

Then, with different mouths but one sound, they pronounced 
the dharanis before the Buddha. 

Here follow the dharanis, thirty six in all. On hearing them, 
the Tathagata praised the Bodhisattvas and said: “If there are 
persons who read and keep these dharanis, I and all the Buddhas 
of the ten quarters shall always protect them ; the bad demons 
and spirits shall revere them like Buddhas, and soon they shall 
obtain anuttara samyaksambodhi (the unexcelled perfect intelli- 
gence, i. e. Buddhaship). Great kings, I commit this sutra to you, 
kings of the sixteen countries (here the name of these countries 
are enumerated, VaisalT, Kosala, SravastT, Magadha, Varanasi (the 
modern Benares), Kapilavastu, Kusinagara, Pataliputra, Campa, 
Sarnkasya, Gandhara etc.), you must receive and keep the Prajha- 
paramita 1” 

Then all the big crowds, the Asuras etc., on hearing the Buddha’s 



Ninnokyo {seventh chapter). 


141 


words regarding the calamities, were excited; the hair of their 
bodies stood erect, and with loud voices they exclaimed: “We 
vow that henceforth we shall not be reborn in those countries”. 
And the sixteen kings forthwith threw away their thrones and 
became monks, provided with the “eight conquering faculties” 
{hasshosho, Am& ), i. e. the eight points of insight, by means 
of which one is able to abandon eager desire and affection, ‘ 
and the “ten universal faculties” (Juissaisho, + — by 

means of which one may contemplate all things (i. e. the ten 
kinds of dharmas {ho, green, yellow, red and white, earth, 

water, fire, wind, air, and knowledge), " and they obtained the 
forbearances of subjection, belief and redemption from birth {bu- 
kunin, shinnin, mushohonin, ^ ^ ^0, •• e. 

the three degrees of lower virtue, the first, second, third, seventh, 
eighth^ and ninth bhumi (stages of Bodhisattvahood). 

Then all the men, Devas, Asuras, etc. spread four kinds of 
flowers as an offering to the Buddha and reached the three gates 
of salvation. And innumerable Bodhisattvas also spread flowers 
and immediately reached the third and fourth of the five kinds 
of forbearance (from the fourth to the ninth bhumi) or developing 
a great compassion in the numberless Buddha lands they brought 
extensive blessings to the living beings, and in their present life 
reached Buddhahood. 

There are two important points in which Amoghavajra’s trans- 
lation of this part of the sutra differs from the older text of Ku- 
marajTva: the names of the five Bodhisattvas and the dharanls. 
The latter, as stated above, are entirely omitted by KumarajTva. 
He does not even mention them. Yet his translation evidently 
follows the original much more precisely than that of Amoghavajra, 
who often omits numbers and small details. Thus in the de- 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 1413, s.v. hachi-haisha, 

^ Ibid., p. 1414. 

^ Cf. above, this paragraph, G, p. 130, note. 



142 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

scription of the ceremony to be performed KumarajTva translates 
as follows. 

“Great Kings, you must (order to) make nine-coloured flags, 
nine chang {jo, ninety feet, long, and nine-coloured 

flowers, two chang high, and a thousand lamps, five wan (^) 
high, and nine boxes of jade, nine covers of jade (3^ fjj ) ' and 
tables (or a table ?) made of the seven precious materials {sapta- 
ratna), and place the sutras [apparently nine copies of this sutra, 
preserved in the nine boxes and covers] thereon. If a king cele- 
brates the ceremony, he must always distribute (the offerings) 
one hundred steps before these tables (or this table). This sutra 
always emits a thousand brilliant rays and prevents the seven 
calamities and crimes from arising within a radius of a thousand 
miles. If a king resides (somewhere), he must have curtains made 
of the seven precious materials, and inside these curtains a high 
seat, also consisting of the saptaratna, on which the sutra must 
be placed. Day after day he must make offerings, spread flowers, 
and burn incense, as if he served his father and mother or king 
Sakra, the ruler of the devas,” 


§ 2, L, 2. The Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas. 

As to the five Bodhisattvas the Buddha says: “If in future 
ages a king of a country receives and keeps the Triratna, 1 shall 
cause the Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas ( ^ ,Go- 

dairiki Bosatsa) to go there and protect that country. 


* These "covers" were a kind of boxes, as we learn from the Sfien pao 
ki (Nanjo No. 1566), the T‘ieii-t'ai commentary mentioned above (this 
chapter, § 1), Ch. iv, p. 29 a. 

2 The five bala’s (powers) are ; the power of faith, energy, memory, meditation 
and wisdom. Cf. Kern, Manual of Buddhism, pp. 62, 67; Eitel, Sanskr.- 
Chin, diet., s. v. Bala or Pancabaldni, 



Ninnokyo {Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas). 


143 


1) Vajra-nada 

^ |j^ll 

Kongo-ku 

Vajra'howl 

2) Nagaraja-nada 

Ryu-o-ku 

Naga-king-howl 

3) Abhaya-dasa- 
bala-nada 

Mui-juriki-ku 

Fearless-ten power-howl ' 

4) Meghadundubhi- 
nada (?) 

Raiden-ku 

Thunder and Lightning-howl 

5) Amita-bala-nada 

Muryoriki-ku 

Immeasurable power-howl 


The first Bodhisattva shall come, holding a “thousand treasures- 
wheel ^ sembo-sOrin). The second shall come 

carrying a golden wheel lamp” konrinto). The third 

shall come holding a “vajra-club” ^ll kongo-sho). The 
fourth shall come carrying a “thousand treasures-net” ^ 
^ ! sembo-ramo). The fifth shall come carrying a “fifty 

swords-wheel” (SI "h gojuken-rin). 

These “Five Great Officers” ( S. it ■> godaishi) are the 

Kings of the 5000 Great Spirits {~^ snd they shall produce 

great blessings in your countries. You must erect their images and 
make offerings to them. Great Kings, I now commit the Triratna to 
you all”. ^ Here follows the enumeration of the sixteen countries. 

These five Bodhisattvas are the “Shapes of the Wheels of the 

' Cf. Kokkwa, No. 360, II and Tanaka Toyozo's article on the Godairiki 
Bosafsu (Kdyasan). 

^ Cf. the Ninnokyo mandara, in colours on silk, painted in the early 

part of the 12th century, and preserved in Daigoji, the famous Shingon 

sanctuary in Kyoto. Attributed to Jokai, (A. D. 1075—1149) of Daigoji, 

who copied the Chinese originals brought home in A. D. 806 by Kobo 
Daishi {Kokkwa No. 363, III), and draughts of deities of the Ninnokyo, 
after Kob5 Daishi’s designs, Kokkwa No. 363, iv and V. 





144 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Saddhatma” Shohorinshin), i. e. the real Bodhi- 

sattva shapes of the Five Great Vidya-rajas ( It , Go 

Dai-Myod), whose “Shapes of the Wheel of the Doctrinal Order" 
Kyory or inshin) (i. e. of the command of Maha- 
vairocana and the four other Buddhas, whose manifestations they 
are) are the angry figures of the so-called Five Great Venerable 


Ones Godaison),^ i. e. 

1) Fudd My do, Wl ^ 

Acala Vidyaraja 

2) Gdzanze Mydd, fi^ — T 

Trilokya-vijaya Vidyaraja 

3) Gundari Mydd, ^ ^ ^Ij ^ 3E 

Kundali Vidyaraja 

4) Dai-itoku Mydd, 00 ^ 

Yamantaka Vidyaraja 

5) Kongo Yasha Mydd, Pll] ^ ^ BE 

Vajrayaksha Vidyaraja 


. These five real and five doctrinal shapes together with the 
“Shapes of the Wheel of the Original Nature ( 

Jishorinshin) of the Five Buddhas form the so-called Sanrinshin 
“Shapes of the Three Wheels”)- According to the 
Commentary on the Sutra of the Benevolent Kings (Nanjo No. 1435, 
Ch. I) their relation is as follows. 


Quarters 

The Five Buddhas 

Real Bodhisattva 
shapes 

Doctrinal (angry) shapes 

1 

Centre 

Mahavairocana 

Vajraparamita 

Acala Vajra 

East 

Akshobya 

VajrapHni 

Trilokya-vijaya Vajra 

South 

Ratnasambhava 

Vajraratna 

Kundali Vajra 

West 

Amitabha 

VajratTkshna 

Yamantaka Vajra 

North 

Amoghasiddhi 

Vajrayaksha 

Vajrayaksha Vajra 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 380, s. v. kyoryd-rinshin; Himitsu jirin, p. 322 sq. 





Godairikku MyoO. 


145 


In this list the names of the Bodhisattvas are given according 
to Amoghavajra’s translation. The quarters to which they belong 
are, as we saw above, the Centre, the East, the South, the West 
and the North. The Five Great-Power-Howl Vidyardjas (3l 

Godairikku Myod) are, according to the Himitsu 
jirin (p. 323) the angry shapes of Vajraparamita etc., and the 
Bukkyd daijiten instructs us that these Bodhisattvas are the real 
shapes of the godaison Fudd, Gdzanze, Gundari, Dai-itoku and 
Kongo Yasha (represented with angry figures). At the present 
time they are believed by the people to expel thieves and are 
worshipped for this reason, fn the four corners of the houses 
paper labels are pasted with the inscription: H ^ ^ ^ , 

Godairiki Bosatsu, “The Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas”. ' 

The term sanrinshin, ^ , or “Bodies of the Three 

Wheels”, i. e. of the Five Buddhas in their Original Nature, their 
Bodhlsattva shape and their angry (doctrinal) shape, belongs to 
the Mystic Doctrine. These wheels relate to the “turning of the 
wheel”, i. e. the preaching of the Law, and not to the five ele- 
ments, the godai, ^ (the "Five Great Ones”), also called 
the gorin, the “Five Wheels”: Ether, Air (Wind), Fire, 

Water and Earth (^, ^ ), connected with the 

Five Buddhas by the Mystic School. According to Amoghavajra 
these elements are represented by the shapes of the Five Buddhas 
of the Taizokai ( , the Phenomenal World) as follows : 


Centre 

Earth 

Yellow 

Mahavairocana 

Acala (Fudo) 

East 

Ether 

Blue 

Akshobhya 

Trilokya-vijaya (Gozanze) 

South 

Fire 

Red 

Ratnasambhava 

Kundali (Gundari) 

West 

Wind 

White 

Amitabha 

Yamantaka (Dai-Itoku) 

North 

Water 

Black 

Amoghasiddhi 

Vajrayaksha (Kongo Yasha) 


' Daijiien, p. 549 s. v. Godairiki Bosatsu. Cf. De la Valine Poussin, 
Bouddhisme, p. 396. 


10 





146 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Subhakarasimha ^ A.D. 637 — 734), ' however, gives 
a better explanation, connecting Mahavairocana with the Ether 
and Amitabha with the Water, in this way; 


Centre 

Ether 

Blue 

Mahavairocana 

Acala (Fudo) 

East 

Earth 

Yellow 

Akshobhya 

[ Trilokya-vijaya (Gozanze) 

South 

Fire 

Red 

Ratnasambhava 

Kundali (Gundari) 

West 

Water 

White 

Amitabha 

Yamantaka (Dai-ltoku) 

North 

Wind 

Black - 

Amoghasiddhi ® 

Vajrayaksha (Kongo Yasha) 


The Butsuzd-zui ^ ^ gives pictures of the “Five 

Great-Power Bodhisattvas” and says; “Thirteen hundred years 
after the Buddha’s Nirvana a hundred demons entered the land of 
Mi-t‘i, and spread pestilence which caused the death of 
many people. On the eighth of the first month the king ordered 
that the whole population of the country should have pictures 
made of the Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas; ‘Purification-meetings’ 
Sai-e,^ i. e. meetings of Buddhist monks, arranged in 
order to give them food) of the Benevolent Kings were prepared 
and offerings were made to these Five Bodhisattvas (or those 
pictures were offered to them). Then the demons and spirits were 
terrified and left the country”. Here they are represented as me- 
nacing figures, with a halo of flames behind their whole body. 
They are given in this order: Centre, North, West, South, East, 
but we shall keep to the order given in the former lists. 

' Nanjo App. II, 154. In A. D. 716 he arrived in Ch'ang-ngan. 

2 Cf. Hackin's list {Guide-Catalogue du Musee Guimet, Les Collections 
Bouddhiques, p. 88), where the colours are given in this order; blanc, bleu, 
jaune, rouge, vert. 

^ Cf. Daijiten, p. 544, s. v. Godai, . 

“* Published in 1690, with pictures by Tosa Hidenobu, > 

and text by the Buddhist priest Gizan, [Jj . Ch. ii, pp. 19 sqq. 

® Daijiten, p. 590, s. v. sai-e ; above, Ch. ii. 




Godairiki Bosatsu. 


147 


1, Centre 
Vairocana 

Vajrapara- 

mita 

Muryoriki-ku 

Fudd Myo-o 

flji 

Amita-bala-nada 
Innumerable Power-How 

Acala Vajra 

Seated cross-legged on 
1 the lotus, and carrying 
an upright sword in his 
right, the Wheel of the 
Law in his left hand. 

2. East 
Akshobhya 

Kongo-ku 

Vajra-nada 

Vajra-Howl 

Dancing upon two lotus 
flowers ; his right hand 
carries a wheel. 

Vajrapani 

Gozanze Myd-o 

Trilokya-vijaya 

Vajra 


3. South 
Ratna- 
sarabhava 

Rya-d-ku 

siita 

Nagaraja-nada 

Naga-king-Howl 

Dancing upon two lotus 
flowers; his right hand 
brandishes a sword. 

Vajra- 

ratna 

Gundari Myo-d 

4^*1 BJ I 

Kundali Vajra 


4. West 

Amitabha 

Mu-i-hd-ku 

Abhaya — nada 
acc. to the sutra\ 

Dancing upon two lotus 
flowers; his left hand 
carries a vajra. 

Vajra- 

tikshna 

Mu-i-juriki-ku 

Abhaya-daiabala-nada 



Dai-Itoku Myd-d 

Fearless-Ten powers- 
Howl 

Yamantaka Vajra 


5. North 
Amogha- 
siddhi 

Raiden-ku 

Meghadundubhi-nada (?) 
Thunder and Lightning- 
Howl 

Dancing upon two lotus 
flowers; his left hand 
carries some vajra- 

Vajra- 

yaksha 

Kongo Yasha Myd-d 

Vajrayaksha Vajra 

symbol. ' 


' According to the passages treated above and below it is a vajra-bell or a vajra-tooth 
(jaksa). Centre: vajra-wheel, East; vajra-club, South'- vajra-jewel, West; vajra-swoid, North; 
vajra-bell or tooth. 



148 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Here we see that the difference between these figures and the 
Five Great Venerable Vidyarajas ( ^ , Godaison 

Myd-o) {Butsuzo-zui', 11, p. 206, 21) relates to the attributes and 
the number of the arms. All the Great-Power Bodhisattvas have 
only two arms, whereas of the other group only Fudo, the central 
and main figure, has two arms, the others six {Kongo Yasha and 
Dai Itoku) or eight {Gundari and Gozanze). But in both groups 
the expression of the faces and the attitude is menacing; they 
are angry expellers of the evil demons of disease, calamity and war. 

There are different explanations of the relation between the 
Five Buddhas and the shapes of the Saddharma-wheel {Shoho- 
rinshin, and of the Wheel of the Doctrinal Order 

{Kyorydrinshin, "The Bakkyo daijiten (p. 547, s.v. 

Go Daimyo-o, ) states that Amoghavajra in the 

first chapter of the commentary on the Sutra of the Benevolent 
Kings (Nanjo No. 1435, translated by Amoghavajra) refers to the 
Vajrasekhara Yoga sutra ( ^ |i|lj ^ (NanjS No. 1033, 

cf. 534, 1319 etc.) and deals with the relation between the five 
Bodhisattvas of the latter sutra and those of the former. The 
“Three Wheel-shapes" ^ , Sanrinshin) are, according 

to this commentary, those which are explained above: 1) the 
“Shape of the Original Nature" of the Five Buddhas ( ^ 

2) the “Shape of the Saddharma Wheel”, i. e. the real 
Bodhisattva-shape; 3) the “Shape of the Wheel of the Doctrinal 
Order”, i. e. the angry Vidyaraja shape. According to the ^ ^ 
these three shapes represent the actions of the body, 
mouth and mind of the Five Buddhas. Thus the Hizdki, ^ IE? ^ 

' The Hizoki, a Chinese writing consisting of two chapters, said to have 
been written by Kob5 Daishi according to the oral explanations of his 
Chinese teacher Hwui-kwo (Egwa Ajari), the seventh patriarch of 

the Shingon sect, or by the latter according to the oral explanations of 
Amoghavajra, the fourth patriarch, or by Wan-pi ( a pupil of I-ts'ao 

of the T'ang dynasty. Apparently it is partlythe latter’s work, partly 
that of K3bg Daishi. Cf. Himitsu jirin, p. 896, s. v. Hizoki. 



Godairiki Bosatsu. 


149 


calls them all “Shapes of the Wheels of the Original Nature” (of the 
Five Buddhas): their Buddha shape and their tv^^o Bodhisattva 
shapes, because saving the living beings is their original nature. 
Then four different lists of names are given (in the Bukkyo daijiten); 
those of the Buddhas and Vidyarajas are the same, but those of 
the Bodhisattvas of the Saddharma wheel are different. 

When comparing the names of the Five Bodhisattvas in this 
list, we see that Vajraparamita, the central figure, is also called 
Dhdrmacakra pravartana, Temborin, the “Turner of the Wheel” 
(of the Law) or Hannya Bosatsu, the “Bodhisattva of Wisdom”. 
Vajrapani, the eastern figure, is identified with Samantabhadra 
(Fugen) or Vajrasattva, and Vajratiksna, the western figure, with 
ManjustT. Vajraratna, the southern figure, is a form of Akasagarbha 
or Vajragarbha, and Vajrayaksa is also called the “Suppressor 
of all the bad demons” or the “Storehouse of the Air” (Emptiness). 

According to the commentaries on the Mahavairocana sutra 
0 Nanjo No. 530) the “Bodies of the Wheel of the 
Original Nature” of the Five Buddhas are the original forms 
(2|5::Nb, honji) of the three shapes, whereas the commentaries 
on the Sutra of the Benevolent Kings consider the “Bodies of 
the Saddharma Wheel” as the original forms of the Bodhisattvas, 
who, on having received the doctrinal order (^^) of their 
Original Buddha (one of the Five Buddhas) appear in the angry 
form of the Vidyarajas. The Hizoki follows the latter explanation. 
Apparently the difference is only nominal; in reality the Bodhisattva 
shape represents the Buddha’s compassion and blessing 
power, whereas the Vidya-raja shape represents his anger 
against the evil demons. 

In a Tantric commentary on the Ninnokyo, entitled Ninno 
hannya darani shaku, “Explanation of the dhdrants of the Ptajnd 
(paramitd-sutra) on the Benevolent Kings” (Nanjd No. 1406, cf. 
below § 3, B), we find the following explanation of the Five 
Bodhisattvas. 

1. The first of the five, Vajrapani (^ PflJ kongoshu), 



The Five Buddhas. 



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Kongo-haramitsu Kongo-shu Kongo-ho Bosatsu Kongo-ri Bosatsu Kongo-Yakusha 
Bosatsu Bosatsu Bosatsu 


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152 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


is called thus because he always carries a vajra {kongO-sho, 
^ ill in his hand. The vajra is the inner symbol of a 
bodhi-heart, and the outer symbol of destroying and suppressing 
sorrow and vexation. His public name is Samantabhadra (cf. 
Nanjo No. 1435, p. 2b). 

2. Vajraratna 1^1 ^ , Kongoho) is named after the vajra- 
jewel {vajra-mani) in his hand, which is a six-fold symbol; 
1) it is difficult to obtain, 2) it is pure and stainless, 3) it has 
great, majestic blessing power, 4) it inspires the world with 
profound reverence, 5) its superiority is incomparable, 6) it does 
not change. The public name of this Bodhisattva is Akasagarbha. 

3. Vajratikshna Kongo-ri) carries a vajra- 

sword {kongb-ken, ^ |^l| This is the sharp sword {riken, 
of the Prajna-paramita, which can cut off all kinds of 
sorrows and vexations. His public name is Manjusrt. 

4. Vajrayaksha ^|) ^ KongD-yakushd) is txpXaXntbi 
as the exhaustive tooth of wisdom (he is also called Kongd-ge, 

P|l| Vajra-tooth, Vajra-jaksha) which devours all sorrows 
and vexations. He carries a vajra-bell {kongo-rei, ^ j^l) §p), 
because the sound of this bell gives perfect enlightenment; 
it is the bell of ptajnd-pdramita. His public name is “He who 
represses all the evil demons” (or the anger of all demons, 

5. Vaj raparamita ( :^ j^l) ^ ^ Kongo-haramita) 

carries a vajra-wheel {kongo-rin, ^ P|l| ^)> because this 
Bodhisattva requested Vairocana Buddha, when the latter had 
reached Buddhaship in the upper world, to turn the Wheel of 
the Law of the Vajra-yana (^ j^lj ^ Kongojo-hbrin), 

which causes the numberless sentient beings to cross the stream 
towards the other bank, i.e. to enter Nirvana. His public name 
is “He who just having directed his mind to Bodhi turns the 
Wheel of the Law” (j^ ^ ^ Saihosshin Temborin) 

(commonly called TembOrin, “He who turns the Wheel of the Law”). 



Godairiki Bosdtsu. 


153 


In another Tantric commentary on the Ninnokyd, entitled “Rules 
on the place of worship and the chanting of the liturgies of the 
Ninno-gokoku-kyo” (Nanjo No. 1435, already quoted above, and 
treated below, § 3, C) the “Real shapes of the Wheel of the Law” 

) of the Five Bodhisattvas are said to 
express the result of the fulfillment of the vows (of the 
Five Buddhas), whereas their “Awful and angry shapes of the 
Wheel of the Doctrinal Order” ^ Iffl M express 

the stern fierceness of their great compassion. 

The relation of these Bodhisattvas is described as follows. 


Quarter 

Public cult 

Real shape of the 
Wheel of the Law 

Angry shape of the 
Wheel of the 
Doctrinal Order. 

East 

Samantabhadra 

Vairapani 

TrUokyavijaya Vajra 

South 

AkSsagarbha 

Vajraratna 

Kundali Vajra 

West 

ManjusrT 

Vajratikshna 

Yamantaka Vajra ' 

North 

He who suppresses 
all bad demons 

Vajrayaksha 

Vajrayaksha Vajra 

Centre 

Dharmacakra-pra- 

vartana 

Vajraparamita 

Acala Vajra 


1. Trilokyavijaya Vajra {Gozanze Kongo, i.e. Gozanze 
Myoo, ^ four heads and eight arms. He is 
the angry looking, doctrinal shape of the Eastern Buddha Akso- 
bhya. He emits a blue lustre and suppresses the armies of 
Mahesvara {Siva), the demons who violate and damage the 
Saddharma and hurt living beings. He comes with Dhrtarastra 

' CaWtA Rokusoku Kongo, ^|J , “Six-feeted Vajra”; cf.Dar/V/en, 

p. 1836 s. V. 

Called Joskin Kongo, ^ij > “Pure-bodied Vajra”. 


2 




154 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(Jikoku Ten, @ ^ one of the Cafur Maharajas (Shitennd, 
), the white king of the Gandharvas, the protector of 
the East, who leads the innumerable Gandharvas and Pisacas, 
and with four koti of Bodhisattvas, in order to protect the country 
(where this sutra is read and the ceremony performed). 

2. Kundali Vajra (Gundari Kongo, i.e. Gundari Myo-o, 

, here written has eight arms. He 

is the angry looking, doctrinal shape of the Southern Buddha 
Ratnasambhava. He emits a sun-coloured lustre, and suppresses 
all the Asuras and all the demons who by means of epidemic 
diseases vex and hurt sentient beings. He comes with Virudhaka 
{Zdchb Ten), the second of the Four Deva Kings, the blue king 
of the Kumbhandas, the protector of the South, who leads the 
innumerable Kumbhandas and Pretas, and with four koti of Bodhi- 
sattvas, in order to protect the country. 

3. Yamantaka Vajra {Rokusoku Kongo, ^ Uli > 

the “Six-feeted Vajra”, i.e. Dai-Itoku Myd-o, 

has six heads and a thousand arms, and each of his six feet 
rests upon a buffalo. He is angry looking, the doctrinal shape of 
the Western Buddha Amitdbha {Amitayus). He emits a golden 
lustre, and suppresses all poisonous Nagas who hurt sentient 
beings by raising evil storms. He comes with Virupaksa {Kwo- 
moku Ten), the red king of the Nagas, the protector of the West, 
the third of the Four Deva Kings, who leads the innumerable 
Nagas and Putanas (Pretas who rule over fevers), and with four 
koti of Bodhisattvas, in order to protect the country. 

4. Vajrayaksha Vajra (Joshin Kongo, ^l) 5 the 

Pure-bodied Vajra”, i.e. Kongo Yasha Myo-o, jj^l) ^ ^ Bfl T* 1 
has four arms. He is the angry looking, doctrinal shape of the 
Northern Buddha Amoghasiddhi. He emits a vaidurya ' coloured 
lustre, and suppresses all the terrible Yakshas who, in the day- 

‘ Lapis lazuli, one of the Sapta-ratna, described as a green coloured 
jewel. Cf. Eitel s.v. 



The Five Great Vidyarajas. 


155 


time and at night, always try to seize by force the vital spirit 
of men and to hurt sentient beings. He comes with Vaisravana 
(Kubera, Bishamon or Tamon Ten, 

the fourth of the Four Deva Kings, the yellow king of the Yakshas, 
the protector of the North, who leads the innumerable Yakshas 
and Rakshasas, and with four koti of Bodhisattvas, in order to 
protect the country. 

5. Acala Vajra (Fudo Kongo, i. e. Fudd Myo-o, 

^ ) is the two-armed, angry looking, doctrinal shape of the 

Central Vairocana Buddha of the Kue-mandara 

^), the “Mandala of the Nine Sections” of the Kongokai 

(^ij ). He emits a five-coloured lustre, and suppresses all the 
evil demons who embarrass and vex sentient beings by causing 
errors and confusion. His five-coloured lustre is a symbol of his 
blessing powers, which break all darkness. He comes with Sakra 
Deva (Indra), the Ruler of the Devas, who leads the innumerable 
Devas, and with four koti of Bodhisattvas, in order to protect 
the country. 

After having written this I read Professor Przyluski’s excellent 
article on the Vidyarajas, ‘ based upon the Arya-ManJusrTmula- 
kalpa (Nanjo No. 1056), the original Sanskrit text of which work 
was discovered in 1909, and the first part of which was published 
by Mr. Ganapati Sastri In 1920. This kalpa is a kind of ency- 
clopaedia, dealing, in the form of sermons, with iconography, 
rites, astrology and many other subjects. Professor Przyluski points 
out that in the oldest parts of this text the word vidyaraja 
means personification of magic formulae; those issued from the 
top of the head, the usnTsa, of the Buddhas, also called UsnTsa- 
rdjas, are the kings among the other vidyarajas, the Vidyaraja- 
cakravartin. The second or Lotus group of vidyarajas, wearing 

' Jean Przyluski, Les Vidyaraja, contribution d I’histoire de lamagiedans 
les sectes mahaydnisies, Bulletin de I’Ecole frangaise d’ Extrime-Orient, xxiii, 
1923, pp. 301—318. 



156 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the names of brahmanic deities, and the third or Vajra group, 
led by the Bodhisattva Vajrapani and representing the ancient 
Brahmanic genii of the air, the Vidhyadhara, appear gradually 
to have supplanted the personified magic formulae of the Tatha- 
gatas. In the third group the vajra has taken the place of the 
nandana of the Vidhyadhara, and most of their names are com- 
posed with the word vajra. When comparing these interesting 
details with the fact that KumarajTva’s text calls the five Great- 
Power Bodhisattvas ndda (howl), whereas Amoghavajra’s trans- 
lation enumerates them as Vajrapani, Vajraratna etc., we recognize 
the first and the third group of the Vidyarajas and we see how 
the Tantric text used by Amoghavajra had put the Vajra-carrying 
figures in the place of the ancient personifications of magic for- 
mulae, utterances of the Tathagatas. Vajrapani, the Eastern Bodhi- 
sattva, is the leader, but in reality Vajraparamita, the Central 
figure, corresponding to Vairocana and Acala Vajra {Dai Nichi 
Nyorai and Fudd Mydd), is the most important figure of the group. 

§ 2, M. The eighth {last) chapter of the Ninnokyd 
{The Buddha commits this Sutra and the Triratna to the 
Benevolent Kings {Zokurui, 5 ^ ^ ). 

Here the Buddha predicts to the kings, that fifty, five hundred, 
five thousand years after his death (in the older translation eighty, 
eight hundred, eight thousand years) there will be no Buddha, 
no Dharma, no Safigha (and, according to the old translation, 
no devout man or woman). Then this Sutra and the Triratna 
shall be committed to the kings of the countries and to the four 
classes of Aryas (the Srotaapannas, Sakrdagamins, Anagamins 
and Arhats), to the former that they may erect and protect them, 
to the latter that they may receive and keep and read the Sutra 
and explain its meaning and on behalf of the living beings 
extensively expound the essential points of the Law. 

Then he prophecies the extinction of the Doctrine and the 



Ninnokyo {eighth chapter). 


157 


ruin of the states at the time when all Kings and royal princes 
and ministers shall be self-confident and haughty and when they 
shall destroy the Buddha’s doctrine and promulgate rules and 
laws in order to restrain his disciples, monks and nuns; when 
they shall not allow (their subjects) to become monks, to walk 
in the correct path, to build pagodas and to make Buddhist 
images, white robes and high seats etc. He warns the kings, 
that, at the time when after his death the four classes of Aryas, 
the Kings, royal princes and officials, who all have the task of 
maintaining and protecting the Triratna, shall destroy it, like 
worms within the body of a lion devouring its flesh, all kinds of 
calamities shall fall upon them and they shall be reborn in hell 
or as pretas or as poor and mean men. He warns them that the 
extinction of the Law shall be near, when wicked bhikshus hanker 
for fame and gain and without relying upon the Buddha’s Law 
cause the kings to set up rules and laws and not to depend 
upon the Buddha’s commandments. 

The sixteen kings, on hearing this prophecy, were deeply 
distressed, and the sound of their crying moved the three thou- 
sand heavens: darkness fell upon the earth and there was no 
light to be seen. All the kings decided to receive and keep the 
Buddha's words, to follow his instructions, and not to restrain 
the four classes of his followers from leaving their homes and 
studying the doctrine. But the numberless crowd of devas lamented 
the approaching emptiness of the world, the Buddhaless age. 

Then King Prasenajit said to the Buddha; “Venerable of the 
World, how shall we call this sutra?" And the Tathagata an- 
swered : “Great King, this sutra’s name is “Prajha-paramita {sUtra) 
on benevolent kings protecting their countries”; it has also the 
name of “Sweet dew {amrtd). Medicine of the Law”. If one obeys 
it, it is able to cure all diseases. Great King, the blessing power 
of the Prajna-paramita is immeasurable as the empty space. If 
it is received and kept and read, its blessing power can protect 
the benevolent kings and ail living beings, like a fence or the 



158 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


wall of a castle. Therefore you ought to receive and keep it.” 

When the Buddha had ended explaining this sutra, Maitreya, 
Simhacandra, and all the numberless Bodhisattvas, sravakas, 
devas, monks and nuns, upasakas and upasikas rejoiced greatly 
and received his words devotedly. 


§ 3. The Tantric commentaries on the Sutra of the 
Benevolent Kings. 

§ 3, A. The older translations and the T‘ien~t‘ai commentaries. 

As stated above (Ch. I, § 1), two commentaries on this sutra 
(Nanjo Nos. 1566 and 1567) belong to the writings of the T‘ ten- 
t'd sect and date from the sixth and thirteenth centuries. We 
learn from the former work (Ch. 1, p. 6b), that at that time (the 
sixth century) three translations of this sutra existed. The first 
one was written in the Yung-kia era (A.D. 307 — 313) of the Western 
Tsin dynasty by the Indian priest Dharmaraksha, who in A.D. 266 
arrived at Loh-yang, where he translated many sutras till A.D. 
313 or 317. This translation consisted of two fasciculi and was 
entitled 'fzl ^ “Prajha of the Benevolent kings". Then 

followed KumarajTva’s work (Nanjo No. 17), according to this 
passage written at Ch’ang-an in A.D. 401 (Hung-shi 3), i.e. 
immediately after his arrival. If this is right, it must have been 
the first work he translated, a new evidence of the great impor- 
tance he attached to it. In the Ta-t‘ung era (A.D. 535—546) of 
the Liang dynasty the third translation, consisting of one fasci- 
culus and entitled ^ “was written by Cheng-ti 

( 1^) in the Shih-yin monastery ( ) in Yii-chang 

(^^) (Kiang-si province). There was a commentary of six 
fasciculi, edited in three volumes. 

Thus we see that the priests of those times devoted much 
study to this important sutra. Afterwards two translations and 



Ninnokyo {Tantric commentaries). 159 

the commentary were lost, but KumarajTva’s work remained and 
was evidently used by the T‘ien-t‘ai priests, whose famous pa- 
triarch Chi-i (A.D. 531 — 597) orally expounded it to his pupil 
Kwan-ting (A.D. 561 — 632). As the latter’s commentary (Nanjo 
No. 1566) as well as the Shen pao ki (Nanjo No. 1567, A.D. 1230) 
explain many terms but do not give us details upon the rites 
and images, used in this cult, we may leave them aside and 
concentrate our attention upon the commentaries of the Tantric 
School. 

The three Tantric works on this sutra, preserved in the Canon, 
are all translated by Amoghavajra (cf. Ch. 1, § 2) and were pre- 
sented by him to the Emperor Tai-tsung in A.D. 771. 


§ 3, B. The “Explanation of the dharanis of the Prajna 
iparamita-sutra) of the Benevolent Kings (Ninnd hannya 
darani shaku, ) {Nanjo No. 1406). 

This short treatise (pp. 12—19) does not deal with the rites, 
but only explains the names of the Five Bodhisattvas, mentioned 
in the seventh chapter of the Sutra (cf. above pp. 142 sqq., where 
those explanations are given), Vairocana’s name, terms like Bodhi- 
sattva, vojra, paramita etc., and the mystic meaning of the different 
syllables, used in the magic formulae as the “seed-characters” 
shuji), i. e. as those principal syllables, which are con- 
sidered as the source of all blessing power. These Lanca signs 
are attached to the different Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the 
“Vajra-world” (Kongokai) and the “World of the Womb” {Taizdkai); 
they are the first or the last syllables of their tantras, or they 
represent their original vows (^jS honzei), or are their general 
“seed-signs’' (M ® ^)- ‘ 


■ Cf. Himitsu jirin, p. 565 sq., s. v. shuji. 



160 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 3, C. The “Rales on the place of worship and the chanting 
of the liturgies of the Sutra on the Protection of Countries by 

Benevolent Kings ('fz: 

Karunikaraja-rastrapala-prajnapdramitd-sutra- 
bodhimanda-dhyaya-kalpa) (Nanjo No. 1435). 

§ 3, C 1. Division of the text. 

This treatise consists of 19 pages and is divided into five parts: 

1 . The majestic blessing power of the Five Bodhisattvas (pp. 2-5). 
/ 2. Rules (kalpa) concerning the erection of a mandala (pp. 5 — 8). 

3. Rules with regard to entering the place of worship (pp. 9 — 14). 

4. Explanation of the way in which the characters of the dhd- 
ranis are to be contemplated (pp. 14 — 18). 

5. Explanation of the distribution of the “character-wheels” 

) of the dharanis by means of meditation (pp. 18 sq.). ’ 

§ 3, C 2. A great ceremony in Amoghavajra’s time. 

A preface, written by Hwui-ling ( ^ ^ ), a “sufra-translating 
sramana of the Hing-shen monastery” (J^ ^ ^)> where 
Amoghavajra lived, praises the holy virtue of the Emperor (Tai- 
tsung, ^ A.D. 762 — 779), who “blows the great trumpet 
(conch) of the Law”, and relates how Amoghavajra with other 
priests made a new translation of this sutra (between A.D. 762 
and 771). Five months later (in the ninth month of A.D. 765) the 
Emperor ordered a hundred seats to be arranged on behalf of 
a hundred monks (fifty of the Tsze-shing and fifty of the Si-ming 
monastery), and a thousand officials had to pay reverence to the 
sutra. Thousands of people from the capital and from the country 
looked at the ceremony and were full of admiration. A five-coloured 
cloud floated in the sky as an omen of felicity, and the majestic 


' Cf. Daijifen, p. 998, s. v. Jirinkwan, 



Ninno-mandara. 


161 


procession proceeded through the streets with banners and flowers 
at the head and music in the rear. There was joy in the capital 
and in the palace, and the roads and walls were crowded with 
people. There had never been such a great Buddhistic festival 
in China, celebrated by high officials, since Matahga’s arrival 
(in 64 A.D.), when the auspicious Law came from the West. 

The first part of the treatise deals with the Five Bodhi- 
sattvas. For their description in this text we may refer the 
reader to § 2, L 2, pp. 142 sqq. (the Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas). 

§ 3, C 3. How to erect the mandala (here the altar 
with utensils and symbols). 

In order to protect one’s country, one’s family and one’s self, 
to ward off calamities and remove obstacles, one ought to erect 
the jfiandala entirely in accordance with the Yoga. In the first 
place a quiet and pure spot is to be chosen. The best place is 
that where a relic (sarira) is preserved, but it may also be a 
pure house, or a cave in high mountains and woods, or a con- 
fluence of two rivers, or a lotus pond in a garden, abounding 
in flowers and fruits, or a spot where a wise and holy man found 
the way (to wisdom and holiness), or a spot beloved by ancho- 
rites (performers of religious austerities). It may also be erected 
on a ship, or on a double-storied belvedere, or on a rock or 
under delightful trees. Such spots are fit for the erection of a 
mandala. On an auspicious day dig a hole in the ground, two 
hasta’s (W- litt. fore-arm, the 16000th part of a yojana) deep 
and either four or from six to twelve hasta’s broad. Remove all 
dirty things like potsherds, hair, ashes, bones etc. A different 
way is to take pure earth from the banks of two confluent rivers 
and make an altar according to the Law on a superior spot 
without dirty objects. Then fill in the hole with the old earth 
(i. e. with the old earth out of which all dirty objects are removed). 
If there is a remainder of earth, this is evidence that it is an 

11 



162 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


excellent spot and that the prayer shall soon be fulfilled. If the 
hole is filled without a remainder of earth, the spot is of ordinary 
quality ( pfl ) and the wish shall be attained ( Pf? ). If the earth 
is not sufficient to fill the hole, the spot is inferior and the ob- 
tainment of the wish shall be slow and difficult. If it is beneath 
or upon a son/'a-pagoda, or on a double-storied belvedere or on 
a rock or on a pure spot, free from all uncleanness, it is sufficient 
to erect a mandala according to the Law, and it is not necessary 
to dig a hole in the midst of the altar. After having levelled the 
ground choose an auspicious day, and in the morning of that 
day dig a hole, one cubit deep and one cubit long and broad 
and put in it a few seeds of the five cereals and a little fragrant 
medicinal herbs. Then recite the following tantra of the DevT of 
the Earth (Kenro jishin) (here the tantra is given). After having 
recited this tantra twenty one times (3 X 7, holy numbers), put 
magic incense into the hole and fill it with earth. Then sit down 
upon the altar, with your face towards the East. In the centre of 
the altar one round altar, one hasta long and broad, must be 
smeared with incense-water, flowers of the season must be strewn 
over it, and offerings of milk, gruel, rare fruits, drink and food 
should be placed upon that altar with the right hand. Thereupon 
the tantra of the DevT of the Earth, above mentioned, has to be 
pronounced a hundred and eight times, and the following gatha 
must be recited thrice : 

You, DevT, in the Buddha’s abode. 

Yourself testify and complete the Perfect Intelligence, 

I erect the mandala. 

You must vow to protect me for ever. 

Then follow prescriptions with regard to the smearing (with 
the right hand) of the altar with in cense- water, and the recital 
of the tantra, mentioned above, twenty one times, beginning with 
the N.E. corner, without interruption and without speaking other 
words. In the same way it should be smeared with a kind of 
juice, after having dried up. Then (after having dried up again) 



Tantric Ninno altar. 


163 


it must be rubbed off with lotus nuts or flowers in order to 
make it bright and pure. A blue canopy should be fixed above 
it, and it must be called great or small. Around it twenty four 
flags should be hung, and in its centre a multi-coloured picture 
must be painted according to the Law. The painter must have 
taken a bath and put on new, clean clothes and receive the 
“commandments of residing near (to the Triratna)” ( 
gonjukai, i. e. the eight commandments for the lay-members of 
the Buddhist community, the zaike, implying purity of 

body, speech and mind. ‘ This altar consists of three layers, and 
must be painted with harmonious colours ; no cow’s glue is to 
be used, but incense glue, and, if this is lacking, juice of boiled 
glutinous rice. In the centre of the altar twelve wheels must be 
painted, in the East a five-pointed vajra-club (lift, vajra-pestle, 
i. e. vajra), in the South a vajra-jewel, in the West a vajra-sword, 
in the? North a vajra-tooth. - These five objects (the wheels, the 
vajra-club, the vajra-jewel, the vajra-sword and the vajra-to’oth) 
are the secret attributes of the Bodhisattvas of the Five Quarters. 
In the S.E. corner a three-pointed vajra-club should be painted, 
in the S.W. corner a precious cap (crown), in the N.W. corner 
a lute and in the N.E. corner a karma-vajra-club, 

visva-vajra, four three-pointed vajras combined. ® Above the four 
corners four “vases of virtue” (^ kembyo) * must be placed 
(which are used in praying to the devas, because that which one 
wishes to obtain is believed to come out of them). 

These vases must be of gold, silver, copper and porcelain, or 
of new earthenware. They must contain one pint ( and be 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 582 s. v. gonju ; p. 673 s. v. zaike. 

^ In other passages it was a vajra-bell; the tooth, yaAsa, is thought to 
be connected with Vajrayaksa. 

^ Cf. Daijiten, p. 198 s.v. kammakongo; Daijii I, p. 579 s. v. 

'* Cf. Daijiten p. 425 s. v. kembyo, also called zembyd, tokubyd, 
“vases of virtue” or kichijo-byo, “vases of felicity” 

or nyoi-byo, “vases which fulfill one’s wishes” 



164 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


filled with excellent water. Flowering branches (litt. branched 
flowers) should be put in these vases, and around their necks 
silken bands should be wound thrice. These bands must have 
a length of four cubits ( R) and their colours must be blue, 
red, yellow and green according to the four corners (S.E., S.W., 
N.W., N.E.). 

At the eastern gate a vajra-hook {vajrakusa, kongdko) should 
be painted, at the southern gate a vajra-cord {vajrapasa, kongo- 
saku), at the western gate a vajra-chain {vajraphota, kongosa), 
and at the northern gate a vajra bell (yajraghanta, kongorei) 
(^5 ^)- In the south-eastern corner an incense-burner 

must be painted, in the south-western corner a flower-branch, 
in the centre different flowers, in the north-western corner a 
lamp, and in the north-eastern corner a utensil for daubing with 
incense {zukoki, All these objects must be painted 

in bright colours. 

Besides this threefold altar there is a single altar kaido), 

with gates painted on the four sides and wooden or iron posts 
nailed at the four corners. They may also be twelve fingers long, 
four fingers within the ground. The third vajra-tantra (to be given 
in the further text) must be recited twenty-one times over these 
posts, before they are fixed. A virgin must assist, and combine 
five-coloured silkthreads, course and fine, into a cord of the 
thickness of her iittle finger, in order therewith to wrap round 
the heads of the posts and to surround the upper part of the 
altar. At the four gates of the altar four incense-burners should 
be placed, in which incense of a special kind must be burned. 
At the four corners of the altar a three-and-a-half-pointed vajra- 
club {sanko-han kongosho, ^ ^ ^ ^ij ;ijf^) must be painted, 

and one lamp above each of them. Outsides the four gates, on 
the left and on the right side two flower-bowls should be placed, 
made of gold, silver, copper and porcelain. Excellent incense- 
water must be used, changed every time and sprinkled on a pure 
spot, not trodden by feet. 



Tantric Ninno ceremony. 


165 


H it is an important prayer, from seven and two times 
seven to seven times seven days, every morning fresh offerings 
should be divided respectfully into eight portions, i. e. there 
must be eight dishes of milk and gruel, eight dishes of cream 
and boiled rice, eight plates of rare fruits and eight plates of 
sweet and crisp delicacies. 

If it is not an important prayer, the ordinary offerings 
of incense and flowers of the season must be made, and on 
the 14 th and 15 th day of the month (the second and third of the 
six fast-days), the days for this common ceremony, milk, gruel, 
flowers and fruits must be offered. 

1. If calamities are to be removed on behalf of one's country, 
one's family or one's self, the supplicant ought to sit down with 
his face towards the North and to concentrate his thoughts upon 
the pfrincipal deity (evidently Vajrayaksa, the northern figure of 
the Five Great Bodhisattvas) and the offerings. White ought to 
be the colour of the whole ceremony, and the text ought to be 
read quietly and in silence. 

2. If one prays for increase of wealth, he must sit down with 
his face towards the East and concentrate his thoughts upon the 
principal deity {Vajrapani) etc. Yellow is the colour of the 
whole ceremony, and the text ought to be read in joyful quietness 
without uttering a sound. 

3. If demons are to be subjected, one must sit down with his 
face towards the South and concentrate his thoughts upon the 
principal deity (Vajraratna) etc. Blue is the colour of the whole 
ceremony, and the text ought to be read with a loud voice, with 
great inner compassion (sorrow) and outwardly with solemn anger. 

4. If reverence and love are prayed for, one must sit down 
with his face towards the West and concentrate his thoughts upon 
the principal deity {Vajratiksnd) etc. Red is the colour of thes 
whole ceremony, and the text ought to be read audibly with a 
heart full of joyful passion. 

In the first of these four cases the days of worship are from 



166 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the first to the eighth of the month, in the second from the 
Qth to the 15th, in the fourth from the 16th to the 22nd, and in 
the third from the 23rd to the end of the month. 

Every time a new altar is erected. In case of urgency, when 
only parts of the day-time or the night and not days can be 
chosen, the first part of the night is the time for removing 
calamities, the first part of the day in praying for increase 
of wealth; the last part of the night in praying for reverence 
and love, and the middle of the day and of the night in sub- 
jecting the demons. 

These are the constant rules in those four cases for the urgent 
prayers mentioned above. But if one strives for the unsurpassed 
bodhi and practises Yoga, then the fourth hour of the day and 
the night, the latter part of the night and the middle of the day, 
the gloaming and midnight are the times when the turning of 
the heart (towards the aim) and the offerings shall be most 
successful in removing all fears, vexations and troubles. Therefore 
the altar must be painted by them at those hours. 

If we recapitulate the rules for the four kinds of prayer, we 
may represent them in the following table. 


Removal of 
calamities 

North 

White 

Silence 

1— 8th 
day 

First part of 
the night 

Increase of 
wealth 

East i 

Yellow 

Silence 

9 th— 15th 

day 

First part of 
the day 

Reverence 
and love 

West 

Red 

Audibly 

16th— 22nd 

day 

Last part of 
the night 

Subjection 
of demons 

South 

Blue 

Loud voice 

23rd— 30th 
day 

Noon and 
midnight 


The choice of the colours white and yellow for the North and 
the East is wrong, for, as stated above, white is the colour of 
Dhritarastra, the protector of the East, and yellow is that of 





Tantric Ninnd ceremony. 


167 


Vaisravana, the protector of the North. The colours red for the 
West and blue for the South agree with those of Virupaksa and 
Virudhaka, the protectors of the West and the South. 


§ 3, C 4. //ow to enter the place of worship (a description 
of the whole ceremony, the ten madras, etc.). 

He who wants to stop calamities, ought to take a bath and 
put on new, pure garments, and if he is at home, he has to 
receive the "commandments of residing near” (to the Triratna: 
the eight commandments for the lay-members of the Buddhist 
community) and to cause his heart to be quite devoted to the 
Mahayana. He who strives for siddhi (joju, ^ ''perfect 

obtaiwing”, in the secret cult the same as shifsuchi, i. e. 

magic power, obtainable by samadhi) ' must not spare his life 
and must desire to save numberless sentient beings. He who can 
do so soon obtains siddhi. 

After having entered the place of worship, the supplicant must 
prostrate himself and touch the ground with his fore-arms, knees 
and head (gotai tochi, and pay reverence to 

the entire world of the Law and to the Triratna. With his right 
knee touching the ground he must repent the three actions (of 
body, speech and mind) {sange sango, ^ and all 

his sins which are obstacles (on the road to salvation). He must 
beseech the Buddhas of the ten quarters to turn the wheel of the 
Saddharma, and all the Tathagatas to stay a long time in this 
world and to be pleased with the felicitous wisdom practised by 
the three vehicles (yana), that thereby all the meritorious deeds 

' Cf. Daijii, Vol. II, p. 2608 s. v. Joju-, Eitel s. v. siddhi. 

^ Cf. Daijiten, p. 544 s. v. gotai tochi. It is the same as gorin tochi, the 
elbows, knees and head being called rin, wheels. Cf. also Daijii, Vol. I, 
p. 1374 s. V. tochi. 

^ Cf. Daijiten, p. 615 s. v. sange, and Daijii, Vol. 11, p. 1554sqq. s. v.sa/j^e. 



168 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

of the worshippers may be turned towards the unexcelled Bodhi; 
and he must wish that all the desires of all the sentient beings 
of the Dharma worlds may soon be fulfilled. 

Then he must sit down with crossed legs. ' If there is no 
occasion to take a bath, he must besmear his hands with incense. 
With a heart full of devotion he must make the "mudra of purity” 
{sho jo-in, m He must hold both his hands near his 

heart, and with an empty heart (i. e. free from passions) join his 
palms. He ought to spread lotus flowers as not yet before, and 
thrice recite a tantra (given in the text). When doing so he de- 
votes his heart to the original purity of all the dharmas and 
therefore also his own body becomes perfectly pure. Then he 
must close his eyes and meditate upon the perfect emptiness and 
upon all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. The whole assembly 
present in the place of worship must take and hold in their hands 
all kinds of very beautiful and fragrant flowers, and being pure 
of body, speech and mind they must sincerely and respectfully 
participate in the ceremony. 

Now follows a description of the ten different madras to be 
made and the tantras to be read thrice. The names of those ten 
mudras are: 

1. Samaya-mudra of the Buddha department {Butsubu sammaya- 
in, ). Samaya is the original vow of the 

Buddhas and Bodhisattvas to save the living beings from the 
errors of the six senses eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, 

mind) by bestowing their magic power upon them 
kaji-riki) by means of tantras and mudras, that they might under- 
stand the equality {byddo, ¥ of the original nature of the 


■ Kekka fuza, cf. Daijil, I, p. 1041 s. v. This is sitting 

like a Buddha (the diamond pose) with the soles of the feet upwards. 

Hankaza, “half-crossed-legged sitting”, is the same with the 

right foot, but the left is piaced under the right knee. Cf. Daijiten, p. 397 
s. V. kekka fuza. 



Tantric Ninno ceremony (mudras). 169 

Buddhas and the living beings and thus escape the vexations of 
the six senses. ' 

Both hands are held near the heart, folded and clenched into 
fists, with the two thumbs held upright next to eachother. 

When this mudra is made and a tantra (given in the text) is 
read, all the Buddhas of the ten quarters assemble like a cloud 
and cause universal emptiness, and the performer is freed from 
all obstacles and vexations, his three actions (of body, speech 
and mind) are pure, and speedily his wishes are completely 
fulfilled. 

2. Sa may a- mudra of the Bodhisaitva department (Bosatsu-bu 

sammaya-in, ^ ^ ^ ). 

Both hands are held near the heart, fists are made as before, 
the left thumb is bent into the palm. 

Wtfen this mudra is made and a tantra (given in the text) is 
read, all the Bodhisattvas of the Dharma worlds of the ten quarters 
assemble like a cloud and cause universal emptiness, and the 
performer of the magic act is pure in his three actions and free 
from all calamities. If is said that the Bodhisattvas, having received 
the great vow of compassion, cause ail wishes to be fulfilled. 

3. Samaya-mudra of the Vajra department ( ^ W) qP — ^ 

Kongobu sammaya-in). As before, but the left thumb is 
stretched and the right thumb is bent into the palm. 

When this mudra is made and a tantra (given in the text) is 
read, all the Vajras of the Dharma worlds of the ten quarters, 
appearing in their awful and angry shapes, assemble like a cloud 
and fill the world with emptiness. The performer of this magic 
act is strong as adamant (the vajra) in his three actions (of body, 
speech and mind). It is said that those saints (the Vajras), having 
received the Buddha’s majestic spirit, by means of the power of 
their own vow can protect and maintain a country as well as 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 663, s. v. sammaya-, p. 1493, s. v. byddo (opp. shabetsu, 
p. 809). 



170 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the single individuals thereof, and cause them to be free from 
all calamities and dangers. 

4. Madra for protection of the body , goshin-in). 

This is a combination of the three preceding mudras and tantras. 

It is the “magic act of the five places” (gosho kaji, 51 
in which the forehead, the right and left shoulder, the heart and 
the throat, respectively representing Mahavairocana, Ratnasam- 
bhava, Amoghasiddhi, Akshobhya and Amitayus (according to 
another version Amitabha and Vairocana are the first and the last) 
are touched by the mudra-forming fingers or by the vajra-club 
or bell. ' 

The mudra is dissolved on the top of the head. This magic 
act covers the performer with a strong vajra-armour and helmet, 
strong as adamant (vajra), and causes his body to emit a ma- 
jestic lustre, brilliant and beautiful, unbearable to the eyes of 
all the evil demons and causers of suffering, who quickly run away. 

5. The mudra for repressing and removing (i. e. exorcising evil 

influences) ^ byakujo-in), and the mudra of the precious 
Vajra worlds (of the Buddhas) of the square corners (N.W., S.W., 
N.E., S.E.) ( ^ [|lj ^ f p , kongG-hogu-hOkai-in). 

The afore-mentioned mudra of the Vajra department (No. 3) 
with the tantra given there. If one goes around the altar three 
times, turning to the left, he can exorcise the powerful demons; 
if he obeys the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and his virtue is acting 
in secret as well as openly, he may go far away to other worlds 
and act according to his will in great and small matters. If one 
goes around the altar three times, turning to the right, he may 
rise to the precious Vajra worlds of the square corners; the 
Buddhas and Bodhisattvas do not transgress it, and sufferings 
may remove by it. This mudra is dissolved above the top of 
the head. 

‘ Cf. Daijiten, p. 199 s. v. kaji (adhisfhana), the mystic assistance of the 
Buddhas whose power is received by the performer of the prayer, and hence 
the prayer itself; cf. 1.1. p. 536, s. v. gosho-kaji. 



Tantric NinnO ceremony {madras). 


171 


6. The mudra for requesting all the saints {Buddhas, Bodhi- 

sattvas and Vajras) to descend upon the altar { ^ ^ ^ 
^ PP , shoshoshoshu-kodan-in). The mudras of the three 
departments mentioned above (No. 1, 2 and 3) and their tantras. 
If one points with his thumbs to his own person and utters three 
inviting calls, all the saints (Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Vajras) 
of the afore-said three departments, filled with emptiness, come 
to their original seats (in the mandala, hon-i) and quietly 

reside there without hindering eachother. 

7. The mudra for offering argha-incense-water (to the saints) 

{argha, , Jap. aka, is offering) ' (Ht # # TK fP > 

ken-aka-kosui-in). 

The performer must hold a precious offering-bowl with both 
hands^ fill it with incense-water, and place it between his shoulders, 
reading thrice a tantra (given in the text). Doing so with all his 
heart, he gives a bath to ail the saints. The mudra is dissolved 
above the top of the head. Then all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas 
of all the dharma-worlds shall protect the performer, and the 
latter shall receive the various kinds of baptism (^ ^ ^ T^)» ^ 
i. e. the blessings of the great compassion of the Buddhas and 
Bodhisattvas. 

8. The mudra for presenting precious seats (to the saints) 
(j^ ^ ^ fP , ken-hoza-in). The performer must hold both his 
hands near his heart, with a passionless heart join his palms, 
join his thumbs with his little fingers and bend them a little, 
and spread the remaining six fingers, slightly bending these too. 
When the fingers are opened, he must spread lotus flowers and 
read a tantra (given in the text). In this way it is as if all the 
saints in reality received and used precious seats; then they all 
cause the performer to arrive among the seats of the fruit (^ 

‘ Cf. Himitsu jirin, p. 11 s. v. aka-, Daijiten, p. 9 s.v. aka-, Daijii, p.9 s.v. 

^ About the various kinds of baptism cf. Daijiten, pp. 347 sqq.; Daijii, 
p. 951 , s. V. kwanjokyd ; Himitsu Jirin, p. 223 s. v. kwanjd. 



172 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


kwa-i, i. e. of the Buddha-fruit, ^ , Bakkwa') and to obtain 

a strong Vajra seat. 

9. The mudra of the universal offering (to the saints) ( 
mm , fukuyo-in). The performer must join his palms and mu- 
tually mix the five fingers, pressing those of the left hand with 
those of the right, and placing the hands above his heart he 
must read a tantra (given in the text). If he does so with a heart 
full of devotion, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of all the dharma- 
worlds assemble as a sea at the place of worship. Then he must 
diffuse like rain all the offerings to the saints, reading the tantra 
five times; the first time he must offer “daubing-incense’' {zuko, 

; the second time all kinds of flower-wreaths; the third 
time he must burn all kinds of incense; the fourth time he must 
plentifully offer excellent drink and food in precious utgnsils; 
and the fifth time he must offer precious lights to the Buddhas 
and Bodhisattvas. By the mystic power of the tantras all the 
offerings shall really be received and used by the great number 
of saints, assembled at the ceremony, and the performer shall 
constantly be recompensed by them for these sacrifices. 

10. The original mudra of the Prajha-paramita ( ^ ^ 

hannya-liaramita-kombon-in). The backs of 
both hands are joined, the two forefingers united, the two little 
fingers bent into the palms, the thumbs pressing the tops of the 
two other fingers. Placing the hands above the heart, the per- 
former must read the dhdranJ, mentioned in the sutra, seven 
times. When doing so, he himself is transformed and completed. 

Prajna-paramita, the Bodhisattva, is the mother of all the Buddhas. 
As to her image, she is sitting crossed-legged upon a white lotus 
flower, the colour of her body is that of yellow gold ; she wears 
a precious necklace and her whole body is grave and majestic. 
On her head she wears a precious crown, with white silken bands 
hanging down on both sides. Her left hand is held near her 
heart and carries a “Hannya bonko” , i. e. the 



Tantric Ninno ceremony {madras). 173 

Prajnd-paramita-sutra written on palm leaves) (leaves of the tala, 
^ ^he Lontarus domestica). Her right hand is held near her 
breasts, making the mudra of explaining the Law 
seppo-in), the thumb pressing the top of the “nameless finger” 
(the ring-finger). 

Then the performer must meditate upon the Bodhisattva, and 
he shall see how from the top of her head to her feet a bright, 
multi-coloured light streams forth from the hairs of her body, 
filling all the dharma worlds with its lustre. And in each ray 
numberless Buddhas appear, pervading the worlds with emptiness 
and explaining unto the root, on behalf of the living beings, the 
very profound Law of the Prajha-paramita, causing them all to 
understand it and to dwell in samadhl. After having ended this 
meditation, the performer must dissolve the mudra above the top 
of his head, and, with a rosary in his hands, he must join his 
palms* and hold them near his heart, reading the tantra (given 
in the text). 

Reading this tantra thrice he must raise the rosary above the 
top of his head and then hold it near his heart. Receiving the 
beads with his left hand, he must move them with his right, 
and his thoughts must dwell in the sornadhi of the Buddha mother 
{Prajna-paramita). Without interruption he must read the tantra 
one hundred eight times (the number of the beads of the rosary, 
4 X 3 X 3 X 3) or twenty one times (3X7); then he must raise 
the rosary over his head and lay it on its original place. Now 
he must make the samadhi-mudra, spreading out his hands hori- 
zontally, pressing the right upon the left, and placing them under 
his navel. In a correct attitude, with his eyes closed and his head 
slightly bent, he must concentrate his attention upon his heart, 
and contemplate a round, bright mirror, one hasta in diameter. 
Gradually a row of “distributed characters” ( ^ ^ ‘ (called 
thus because they are mystically distributed over the different 

' Daijiten, p. 1525, s. v. fujikwan, “Meditation upon the distributed 
characters”. 



174 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


parts of the meditator's body, the first and most important of 
all, the a, being applied to the heart), representing all the 
dharma- worlds, revolves to the right, and while the performer 
considers them one after one they emit a bright pervading light. 
He gradually contemplates them all in their circulation, from the 
outside towards the inside unto the character and from the 

inside towards the outside, and after a circuit he begins anew. 
After three times his heart has sunk into a virtuous and quiet 
samadhi, and with a perfect intelligence he sees their meaning, 
and understands that there is neither birth nor death, that everything 
is equal byodd), that all the dharma-worlds neither move 

nor stand still, and that samadhi and wisdom move together, 
without differing in appearance. This is the meditation of the 
samadhi of the Prajha-paramita. Then the Prajha-paramita-mudra 
must be made and the dharanX must be read seven times. The 
mudra is to be dissolved above the top of the head. 

Thereupon the '‘mudra of the universal offering” (fukuyo-in, 
No. 9), is made as before, and with a devout heart offerings are 
made "to the saints, that they may first give blessings and wealth 
and fulfillment of wishes on behalf of the country and the family, 
and afterv/ards turn the living beings towards the Pure (Buddha) 
lands (fp- J:;, Jbdo), ' and to the Reality (^[^, Jissai, of 
the Shinnyo, True and Constant”, i. e. the Bhutatatha- 

ta or Absolute Nature, the true and original Buddha nature), - 
and to the unsurpassed Bodhi, and vow that the sentient beings 
soon may reach the other shore {Nirvana). 

Then is made the “mudra for binding the region” ^ , 

kekkai-in), i. e. for mystically protecting a fixed region against 
the invasion of evil influences (bad demons) (e. g. at the erection 
of temples or an altar) ^ and the tantra, connected thereto, is 
read thrice. When turning to the right, the region is dissolved 

‘ Cf. Daijiten, p. 970, s. v. Jodo ; Daijii, II, p. 2674, s. v. 

* Cf. Daijiten, pp. 879 sq., s. v. shinnyo and Jissai. 

® Cf. Daijiten, pp. 396 sq., s. v. kekkai. 



Tantric Ninno ceremony imudras). 


175 


(i. e. the mystic protection is raised). Then are made the mudras 
of the three departments (of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Vajras), 
mentioned above, and the tantras, given in connection with them, 
are read. Finally the saints are sent away to their original lands 
by turning the thumbs outwards (this is done by all those who 
participate in the ceremony) ; then the performers make a reverence 
and go away, strictly following the ceremonial rules. 

The fourth and fifth sections of this treatise explain the way 
in which the characters of the dharanis should be contemplated 
(pp. 14 — -18), and the “character-wheels” of the dharanis distri- 
buted by means of meditation (pp. 18 sq.). We omit these details, 
because they do not refer to the rules of the ceremony, fully 
described in the third section. These rules are given in exactly 
the same way in Nanjo No. 1419, entitled Ninno hannya nenju ho, 
S & li i*. “Ceremony of reciting (the dharanis of) 

the Pfajhdparamitd-sutra of the Benevolent Kings”, where the 
Buddha explains them to King Prasenajit. 

§ 4. The history of the Ninnokyd and the Ninno congregations 
in Japan (A.D. 660 — 1469). 


§ 4, A. The first dates in China. 


In A.D. 559 (Yung-ting 3) the Emperor Wu Ti of the Ch‘en 
dynasty ordered to arrange a Great Vegetarian Banquet (for the 
monks) in accordance with the Ninnokyo (Ninno daisai. 


In A.D. 765 (Yung-t‘ai 1) the Emperor Tai Tsung ^)r 
Amoghavajra’s great protector, had the Ninnokyo expounded in 
two temples; the Tsze-shing-sze (^ ^ ^) and the Si-ming-sze 
(® These were meetings of a hundred seats (the text 

of the Ancient T‘ang Books speaks of seats a hundred feet high); 


> Daijii, 111, p. 3742, 1, s. v, Ninno-e. 



176 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


it took place in the ninth month, and the Emperor had presented 
the copies of the sutra to the two temples. The next month it 
was expounded again in the Tsze-shing-sze. ' The text was used 
to suppress the raids of some barbarian tribes, but also 
to cause rain, as we learn from another author, who states 
that the Emperor caused Amoghavajra to lead a congregation of 
a hundred seats and explain his new translation of the Ninnokyo, 
and that this way of praying for rain was successful. 

In Amoghavajra’s biography it is stated that in A.D. 765 he 
translated the Ninnokyo in the “Southern Peach garden of the 
Ta-Ming Palace”, and that the Emperor Tai-tsung, after having 
written a preface to it, held a miisha-e , Moksha- 

congregation, explained as “unlimited meeting”, cf. below, Ch. VI) 
in honour of this sutra. * 

The Korean history repeatedly mentions Ninno congregations 
of a hundred seats. * 

§ 4, B. The different kinds of Ninnde in Japan. 

There are four kinds of Ninnde, frequently mentioned in Japa- 
nese history. 

I. The Ichidai ichido Ninnde, — • , “Ninno 

congregations of one generation and one time”. This is a great 
assembly, daihde, also called Nyoho dai-Ninnoe, or 

“Great Ninnoe according to the Doctrine”. 

In A.D. 660, in the fifth month, the Empress Saimei held the 
first Ninno hannya congregation with a hundred high seats and 

' Ancient Tang Books, , Ch. xi, No. 11 (of the 

Emperor Tai Tsung), p. 10. 

2 Cf. Daijiten, p. 1369, 2, s-v. Ninnd-e, quoting the 

Ch. II ; cf. Konjaku monogatari, Ch. vii, K. T. K. xvi, p. 354. 

3 Himitsu jurin, p. 925, I. 

* Daijii, 1. 1. 



Ichidai ichido Ninnoe. 


177 


presents of a hundred no-gesa. The author of the article on the 
Ninnoe in the BukkyO daijii (III, p. 3742, 1) considers this meeting 
as the first ichidai ichido Ninnoe. * 

In A.D. 729 (Jinki 6), on the first day of the sixth month, the 
Emperor Shomu had the Ninnokyo expounded in the Chodo 
Palace and in the temples of the kinai and the 
other provinces. - Oda Tokuno, the author of the Bukkyo daijiten 
(p. 1369, 2), mentions this ceremony as the first ichidai ichido 
Ninnoe, because the Genko Shakusho says that this Palace con- 
gregation was an ichidai no e ( — now instituted 
as a constant ceremony ( 

The next meetings took place in 747 (V 15), 750 (V 8), 772 
(VI 15), 794 (IX 3), 811 (X 20), 825 (VII 19), but no fixed rule 
was set up before Seiwa Tenno (859 — 876), as we learn from 
the Bukkyo Daijii (1.1.). Afterwards we shall deal with the passages 
of the Annals, which give more details. In the Nihon kiryaku 
we found the ichidai ichido Ninnoe mentioned for the first time 
in A. D. 947 (III 5) ; in the Fiiso ryakki '0 in A. D. 898 (VI 26, 
against pestilence). In A. D. 1017 (IX 1) (Kwannin 1) the Emperor 
Go Ichijo (1017 — 1036) sent official documents concerning the 
celebration of a Dai-Ninnoe, and the text to be read on that 
occasion (the Jiigwammon, to all the provinces; and 

on the 8th day of the tenth month this ichidai ichido Ninnoe 
took place; ‘^) but this official document is not mentioned after- 
wards (the text of the Nihon kiryaki calls it kwampu, ^ 
the Bukkyo daijii Dajo-kwampu, The author of 

the Bukkyo daijii supposes the gradual decay of the kokubunji 
(the provincial state monasteries treated below) and the 15 great 


' Nihongi, Ch. xxvi, pp. 466 sq.; Aston II, pp. 264 sq. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch, x, p. 171. 

3 Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxii, p. 1014. 

■* Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. in, K. T. K. v, p. 839. 

5 Fuso ryakki, Ch. xxiii, K. T. K. vi, p. 668. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. xiii, p. 1111. 


12 



178 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


temples (the seven great temples of Nara and eight other sanc- 
tuaries) to have caused the decline of the Ninno ceremony in 
the provinces. But at the Court it was still in use during the 
reign of Go Fukakusa Tenno(1247 — 1259) ; about the A^a/726oA:uc/?o 
(1336 — 1392) the matter is not certain, but after the Onin era 
(1467 — 1469), together with the decline of the Imperial Court, 
the Ninno ceremony came into disuse. 

The Bukkyd daijii remarks further that the history of this 
congregation is different from other such assemblies. It began in 
the Palace and then spread to the provinces (this was, after all, 
often the case!); having a hundred places of worship it was 
unexcelled from Saimei Tenno (A.D. 660) till after the removal 
of the capital from Nara to Heian (A.D. 784). As to the number 
of places in the capital and the provinces, where it was held, 
this was different according to the times. According to the votive 
text (Jugwammon) of a Ninnoe during the Jogwan era (A.D. 859-876) 
(there were Ninno-e in 859, 860, 866, 867) it was held in 31 places 
of the capital and 69 in the country (together exactly a hundred, the 
holy number with regard to this rite in connection with the words 
of the sutra); in de Genkei era (877 — 885) there were 32 in the 
capital and 68 in the provinces,’ and in the Kao era (1 169 — 1171) 
36 chapels of the capital, enumerated by the Bukkyo daijii, were 
used for this ceremony. First five den (palaces), namely the Chuden 
(4r ^), Nanden (^ ^ ), Daigokuden ( ^ ), Burakuden 

(M^^) and Butokuden (^(;^, ^), all buildings of the 
Imperial Palace. Then follow two mon (gates), namely the Siizakii- 
mon f“0 and the Rajonion (M n ), of the Palace. 

Eight in (^) are enumerated: In, Shin-in (^ 1^), Kwokamon-in 
PI |^)> Jdsaimon-in ( Jl ® |^), Hachijo-in (/\ 

' Cf. Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. xlvii, K. T. K. iv, p. 662; Faso ryakki,Ct\.'x.xn, 
p. 624: in A. D. 885 (Ninna 1), on the same day at the same hours (two 
hours in the morning and in the evening) at 32 places of the capital (the 
palaces and offices, the 12 gates, the Rajomon, Toji and Saiji) and in the 
provinces. 



Ichidai ichido Ninnoe. 


179 


Takamatsu-in Kujo-in {jx, ^ j^) and 

Kenshunmon-in ( After three gu { ^ ), namely 

the palaces of the Taikwo Tai^o the grandmother 

of the Emperor), the Kvjogo ( the Empress), and- the 

Chagu ( here probably the Empress-Dowager), follow 

the 15 most important government offices, namely the Dajokwan 
), the Gekicho ( IB m ), and the five departments 
{sho), namely the Nakatsukasa ( fJ? ), Shikibu ( ), Hyobu 

Ok nr a and Kunaisho ^ ^^e Sa- 

kydshiki ^ ^) and the Ukyoshiki ^ ®), and the 

Roku-e-fu ( ^ ^ ) (the Six sections of the Imperial Guards) ; 

finally three temples ; Toji ( ^ ^ ), Saiji ( ® ^ ) (Shingon, 

shrines), and Shojinji ( ® » #)■ 

This list shows the great importance attached to the Ninnoe 
with regard to the welfare of the State. 

The honzon or principal images of the ceremony were Sdkya- 
muni, Bodhisattvas and Arhats (the text of the sUtra prescribes 
a hundred Buddha images, a hundred Bodhisattva images, a 
hundred lion-seats, and a hundred priests). Only in the Daigoku- 
den a taka-mi-knra a “high august seat”) is used 

as Batsudai ("^ ^) (“Buddha-stand”) ; further the five images 
of the Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas ( ^ ^ ^ a 

"couch of the Holy Monk” (^. evidently for Pindola, the 

“Holy Monk”), ' and tables for incense, flowers and presents for 
the monks. 

As to the rites {saho, the Bukkyo daijiten (p. 1368) 

refers to Ch. XV of the Koke shidai, ^ ^ , written by 

Oe Masafusa ^ who lived 1041 — 1111. 

' Cf. Levi et Chavannes, Les Seize Arhaf Protecteurs de la Loi, Journal 
Asiatique, 1916, pp. 216 sqq.; J. Przyluski, La Legende de I'Empereur Agoka 
dans les fexfes indiens et chinois, many passages on Pindola; De Visser, 
The Arhats in China and Japan, pp. 76 sq. 



180 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


2. The Rinji(no) Ninnoe, or “Special Ninno 

Congregations” were assemblies specially convoked by Imperial 
order. 

According to the Bitkkyo daijiten (1.1.) the first meeting of this 
kind took place in the 17 th year of the Enryaku era (A.D. 798), 
on account of the banishment of the so-called Sudo Tenno 
^ ^ ^) (the posthumous title conferred upon Sawara Shinno, 
the Emperor Kwammu’s former heir apparent, whom he had 
banished in A.D. 785 to Awaji and who, refusing all drink and 
food, had died on the way to his place of exile. Afterwards the 
Emperor tried to appease his angry spirit by several measures). 

The Bukkyo daijii, however, seems to consider the dedication 
of the Emperor Kwammu’s new palace, on the 29th day of the 
ninth month of Enryaku 13 (A.D. 794), when he caused a hundred 
priests to expound the Ninnokyo, to be the first occasion when 
a Rinji Ninnoe took place; for this is the first instance of such 
a congregation, mentioned there, together with that of A.D. 840 
(VI 7), held in the Palace by the Emperor Nimmyo. Some of the 
Rinji{no) Ninnoe took place in the Daigokuden (in the Palace), 
other Ninno meetings of this kind were held in temples, but 
always by order of the Emperor. Although the arrangement and 
the order of the rites were not very different from those of the 
Vernal and Autumnal Ninnoe, yet they were more pompous than 
the other Ninnoe. When, for instance, in A.D. 1001 (Choho 3, 
111 10) Ichijo Tenno held a Ninnoe of a hundred seats against 
the prevailing p e st i 1 e n c e, and when in A.D. 1031 (Chogen 
4, XI 30) Go Ichijs Tenno followed his example, both Emperors 
went in person to the congregation and paid reverence to the 
Buddha, and all the ministers took part in the ceremony, which 
was not the case at the other Ninnoe. Further, in A.D. 1264 
(Bunei 1) the Emperor Kameyama went to Shitennoji in Settsu 
province, and held a Ninnoe of a hundred seats in the kondo 
of that sanctuary. This was also a Rinji{no) Ninnoe, being cele- 
brated at the Emperor’s special desire. 



Rinji, Shunshu niki, Nyo-in no Ninnoe. 


181 


In the Fusd ryakki the term Rinji(no) Ninnoe is found for the 
first time in A.D. 898 (V 26); ' in the Nihon kiryaka not before 
A.D. 947 (VI 29), the same year when the Ichidai ichido Ninnoe 
are mentioned there for the first time. ’ 

3. The Shunshu niki no Ninnoe or “Vernal 

and Autumnal Ninno congregations” are also called Rinji (no) 
Ninnoe, but they are a little different. According to the Bukkyo 
daijii (1.1.) they are not mentioned in the Engishiki (A.D. 927), 
but in the Nishi no miya no ki (® f2i) and in the Ono no 

miya no nenju gyoji sf ® «¥ fh « Ceremonies of the 
whole year, performed in the Shinto shrine of Ono”, in Shiga 
district, Omi province) they are dealt with as a fixed kind oi Rinji 
no Ninnoe, which is evidence of the fact that at that time (lOih 
or 11 th century?) they had become regular festivals: the vernal 
Ninnc^ in the second or third month, the autumnal in the seventh 
or eighth month. A hundred seats were erected in the Chuden, 
Nanden, Daigokuden and the other palace buildings (den, in, 
gu), chapels (do) and temples (Shinto as well as Buddhist). This 
continued until the Nambokucho (1336 — 1392); subsequently the 
matter is uncertain. 

In A. D. 865 (Jokwan 7) (11th month) Izumo province requested 
the expounding of the Ninnokyo, the “King of Sutras”, in the 
middle months of spring and autumn, in order to expel the 
prevailing calamities of pestilence and bad crop, to protect the 
country and give peace to the people by means of the power 
of the Prajhd. ^ 

4. The Nyo-in no Ninnoe, “Ninnoe of the 

Nyo-in" (title of the Empresses-Dowager who had become nuns 
by the title of Mon-in) is mentioned in the RanjoshO, 

an encyclopaedia containing all kinds of ancient matters. There 

’ Faso ryakki, Ch. xxm, p. 668. 

2 Nihon kiryaka, kohen, Ch. in, p. 842. 

3 Sandai Jitsuroku, Ch. x, p. 173. 



182 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


we read that on the fifth day of the fourth month of A. D. 1052 
(Eijo 7) (by mistake called the 8th instead of the 7th year of 
Go Reizei Tenno's reign) that Emperor held such a meeting in 
the Buraku-in ^ |^)> one of the buildings of the Palace 
used for banquets and other festivities. The Kwampaku, the 
Sadaijin and lower officials went there and a general ceremony 
took place. ' 


§ 4, C. The different aims of the Ninnoe in Japan. 


1. The principal aim of the Ninnoe was to give peace and 
prosperity to the Empire ( ^ ^ ^ ^ ^Ij for 

“to raise the Triratna is a field of felicity to the State” — 

^ ® ^ Ini ffl ), as we read in the Imperial edict promul- 
gated in A. D. 746 (TempyO 18, III 15) by the Emperor Shdmu. “ 
This is the first time the reason is given in the Annals why this 
sutra was expounded and the congregation held; in A. D. 660 
(V), 676 (XI 20), 693 (X 23) and 729 (VI 1) no reason is mentioned. 

In the fifth chapter of the Ninnokyd all kinds of calamities, 
riots and robbery, diseases and pestilence, inundations and storms, 
great fires and sun or moon eclipses, (“if there happen unna- 
tural things in heaven and on the earth, and the sun, the moon 
and the stars lose their times and courses”) are said to be stopped 
or averted by reading this sutra. ^ In this way it promoted the 
peace and welfare of the country. 

In A. D. 940 the Tendai priest Jozo ( ) was one of the 
leaders of a Ninnoe in the Palace, held in order to suppress 
Taira no Masakado's rebellion; for the same purpose he cele- 


‘ Ranjosho, Ch. Gunsho ruiju, , Ch. 465; Daijiten, 

p, 1369. 

^ Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvi, p. 263. 

^ Cf. above, this Chapter, I pp. 133, 137. The seven calamities relate to 
sun, moon and stars, water and fire, storms, drought, war and robbery. 



Aims of the Ninnoe in Japan. 


183 


brated the Dai-Itoku no ho in Shuryogon-in 

^ M Hieizan. ' 

In A. D. 1170 the Shingon priest Jokai |^) practised the 

Ninnokyo-ho (^) against the raids of the monks of Enryakuji, 

who plundered Kyoto. - 

In A. D. 1281 the Kairitsu priest Ninsho ( ) held a Ninnoe 
on Inamura-yama "in order to pray for the suppression 
( ^ ^ ) of the Mongol s”. In the same year the Kairitsu priest 

Eison received a Ninno-mandara from the Emperor, 

and obeying His Majesty’s ordinance he practised the Aizen no ho 
after having opened a Ninnoe in the Hachimangu 
on Otoko-yama in Yamashiro, where more then 560 priests from 
Kyoto and Nara assembled. ® 

In A. D. 1342 the Shingon priest Kanshun ( "prayed 

for the peace of the Empire” by means of the Ninno daihd 
in Tdji, the main temple of the Shingon sect in Kyoto. ^ 

2. The next aim was causing rain, which was called “praying 
for rain”(ii^ , ki-u, or , sho-u, or (jJI , ‘^,amagoi.^ 

According to the Fuso ryakki (Ch. V, p. 526) the terrible 
drought of A.D. 676, followed by a great famine throughout the 
country, caused the Emperor Temmu to have the Saishookyd and 
the Ninnokyo expounded in all provinces. The Nihongi{Ch.XX\X, 
p. 512), however, does not state any connection between the 
drought of that summer (in the ninth month “owing to the rain, 
the beginning of the month was not announced”, so then there 
was even too much rain) and the sending of men to all parts 
to expound both sutras. 

In A.D. 839 (Jowa 6, IV 17), when heavy drought prevailed, 

' Washio, p. 668, 2; Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. u, p. 827. With regard to 
the name of the shrine cf. NanjS No. 446. 

2 Himitsu jirin, p. 581, 2. 

3 Washio, p. 78, 1. 

* Himitsu Jirin, p, 256, 1. 

3 Cf, above, Ch. i, §§ 12, 13, pp. 22 sqq. 



184 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


not only gohei were sent to the Shinto gods of Matsu-no-o, 
Kamo, Kawashimo, Kibune and the “Rain-master” of Nibu Kawa- 
kami, but for seven days the Ninnokyo was read in the 15 great 
Buddhist temples, and for three days the Daihannyakyo was read 
by means of the tendoku system by a hundred priests who had 
assembled in the Hassho-in i.e. the Chodo-in (SU 

^ 1^), also called Daigokuden-in ( @ ^ 1^), the prin- 

cipal building of the Palace. In the fifth month during three days 
one thousand chapters of the Kongo hannyakyo were read by 
tendoku in the Kamo shrine, and 5000 chapters of the Ninnokyo 
were read in the same way in Enryakuji in consequence of an 
Imperial vow. In the sixth month the Emperor Nimmyo caused 
the priests of the seven great temples of Nara to assemble in 
Todaiji and during three days and three nights to praise the 
name of Ryu-jizai-o Nyorai (f| § ^ i ), the “Dragon- 

independent king Buddha”. ' 

In A.D. 877 (Genkei 1, VII 9) the Daihannyakyo Sind the 7V/nno- 
kyo were used for the same purpose, - and the next year (A.D. 
878, IV 29) a Ninnoe of a hundred seats, the ceremonial text of 
which is given in extenso in the Sandai Jitsuroku and was sent 
to all provinces, had great success in causing rain. ® 

In A.D. 891 (VI 2) the “King of Sutras” (the Ninnokyo) was 
read by tendoku in all the temples of the capital and the Home 
provinces, and gohei were sent to all Shinto shrines, in order to 
pray for rain; the Daihannyakyo was read in the Daigokuden, 
and the Mahamegha sutra (the special rain-praying text) in the 
Shinzen-en (the park where such rain ceremonies used to be 
held). * 

The Nihon kiryaku further mentions rain-praying Ninnoe in 

' Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. viii, K.T. K. in, pp. 256 sqq. 

2 Sandai Jitsuroku, Ch. xxxii, K. T. K. iv, p. 466. Fusd ryakki, Ch. xx, 
p. 596 {Ninnd hyakkd in the 3rd month). 

^ Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. xxxm, p. 483. 

* Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xx, p. 757. 



Aims of the Ninnoe in Japan. 


185 


A.D. 919 (VI 30), 943 (V 17) (both in the Daigokuden), 948 
(V 5) (VI 5), 957 (VI 3) (against drought and pestilence), 963 
(VII 9), 991 (VI 18), 1004 (VIII 6, in the Daigokuden), 1018 
(VI 3) (in the Daigokuden), 1028 (VII 18) (in the Daigokuden), 
1032 (V 20, 300 priests in the Daigokuden, for rain and against 
pestilence; V 24 again; VI 15, Rinji Ninnoe-, 1033 (V 19, 500 
priests in the Hasshd-in). ' 

3. The third aim was to stop pestilence, small-pox, le- 
prosy or other epidemics. 

Although this was in accordance with the words of the sutra, 
we do not read about it before A.D. 893 (intercalary V 18). - 
From that time this way of driving away the demons of disease 
(especially of pestilence) became frequent. The Nihon kiryakii 
mentions such Ninnoe in A.D. 898 (HI 22, VI 26); 904 (III 15); 
909 (V 9) (V 26); 912 (V 5); 947 (intercalary VII 13) (IX 7, in 
the Shishinden and the Ryokiden, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ , buildings 
of the Palace); 949 (VI 17); 957 (VI 3); 974 (VIII 28); 994 
(V 15) (cf. VI 27); 995 (II 9); 1001 (III 10); 1015 (V 15); 1017 
(VI 14); 1020 (IV 22); 1021 (I 28) (Vll 10, Rinji Ninnoe in the 
Daigokuden)-, 1028 (VII 18); 1030 (VI 20, idem); 1032 (V 20).^ 

4. The fourth aim was to avert evil omens, i. e. the evil 
consequences (rebellion, drought, pestilence) of the appearance 
of comets, sun or moon eclipses, or other strange events 
iliwai~i, '1'^ ^ ). 

In A.D. 866 (IV 26) the Ninnokyo was read (it is not called 
a Ninnoe, but only a ceremony of reading the text) in the building 
of the Onyoryo, in the temples Tdji and Saiji, in de goki and 

' Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. i, p. 802; Ch. ii, p. 832; Ch. iii, p. 852; Ch. iv, 
p. 869; Ch. iv, p. 898; Ch. ix, p. 1010; Ch. xi, p. 1056; Ch. xiii, p. 1115; 
Ch. XIV, p. 1148; Ch. XIV, p. 1163; Ch. xiv, p. 1166. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xx, p. 762. 

® Nihon kiryaku, Ch. i, pp. 774, 783, 789, 793; Ch. ill, pp. 844, 846, 861; 
Ch. IV, p. 868; Ch. vi, p. 946; Ch. ix, p. 1020; Ch. x, pp. 1023, 1046; Ch. xn, 
p. 1098; Ch. xm, pp. 1110, 1123, 1127, 1147; Ch. XIV, pp. 1156, 1162. 



186 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


in the shichido (the Home and other provinces), because the 
Otenmon the southern front gate of the Hasshd-in 

of the Palace) had been destroyed by fire. The sutra was read 
in order to avert further calamities. ' 

In A.D. 867 (XI 23) a comet appeared. Six days later an 
Imperial proclamation announced, that on account of this omen 
drought and pestilence were predicted, and that the way to save 
the country from these imminent dangers was to read the Kongo 
hannyakyd and the Daihannyakyo during three days throughout 
the country, and to expound the Ninno hannyakyd in the seven 
great temples of Nara, in order by means of the power of the 
Prajna to obtain the protection of the Five Great Bodhisattvas 
and to cause all demons to stop their evil doings themselves. ^ 

In A.D. 893 (I 11) on account of strange events {kwai-i) the 
Ninno hannyakyd was read by tendoku in the temples of the 
different provinces, ® and again in A.D. 970 (VIII, 21). * 

In A.D. 1002 (X 1) the Onydryd predicted war and pestilence 
because several evil omens had been observed. Thus two days 
later an d-harai (great lustration) took place before the Kenrei- 
m(7/2(^jjj^ P^ ) in order to purify the Palace and to prepare 
it for the Ninnd-e, held with a hundred priests on the sixth of 
that month in the Daigokuden. ^ These d-harai preceding the 
Ninnde are mentioned regularly from A.D. 957 (II 19) (V 14).® 

In A.D. 1007 (VII 14) the Emperor Ichijo tried to avert the evil 
consequences of a comet by personally attending a Rinji no 
Ninnde in the Nanden. ’’ 

In A.D. 1026 (X 22) a Rinji no Ninnde was held by the 

' Sandai jitsuroka, Ch. xii, K. T. K. iv, p. 211; Nihon kiryaku, zempen, 
Ch. XVII, p. 607. 

2 Sandai jitsuroka, Ch. xiv, p. 262. 

® Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xx, p. 760. 

* Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. vi, p. 934. 

® Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. x, p. 1050. 

® Ibid., Ch. IV, pp. 867 sq. 

’ Ibid., Ch. XI, p. 1073. 



Votive texts of Ninnoe. 


187 


Kwampaku Fujiwara no Yorimichi (Michinaga's son) and led by 
the Tendai zasu Ingen Sojo (1^ M ft jE) (A.D. 954-1028), 
who the year before had obtained the privilege of entering the 
Palace by carriage, in order to expound the Ninnokyo. ' 

Sun and moon eclipses and the dying of a dog in the Palace 
(which caused defilement) were the causes of this special Ninnoe, 
which was celebrated with music and incense burning. ^ 

Severe earthquakes were, of course, dangerous events which 
necessitated religious measures like the reading of the Ninnokyo 
(A.D. 938, VII 3). 

§ 4, D. The Votive Texts (jugwammon). 

Extensive votive texts {jugwammon, ^ ^) were written, 

as we stated before, and copies were sent to the provinces, that 
the same text (verses consisting of lines of four characters) should 
be read everywhere in the country. The annalists repeatedly give 
these Jugwammon in extenso, which is evidence of the great 
importance they attached to the Ninnokyo and the Ninnoe. They 
were read by the leading priest on behalf of the donators. The 
first time such a text is given in the annals is in A.D. 847 (III 15) 
(in prose) (800 priests invited to the Palace to expound the 
sutra, in order to avert calamities). * In A.D. 878 (IV 29), when 
the Ninnokyo, read in 32 places of the capital (the palaces, the 
offices and temples mentioned above) and in 68 places of the 
provinces (everywhere by a hundred priests), by its mighty power 
caused fertilizing rain, the votive text consisted of more than 
seventy lines of four characters each (in verse). ® 

' Washio, p. 17, 2. 

2 Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. xni, p. 1141. 

3 Honcho seki, (A.D. 935—1153), K.T. K. VIII, p. 5. 

'' Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. xvii, p. 383. 

® Nihon Sandai jitsaroku, Ch. xxxiii, pp. 487 sq. 



188 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In A.D. 885 (IV 26) in the same 100 places, on the same day 
and hours, in the morning and in the evening the ceremony took 
place; then the number of lines of the gdtha (four characters 
forming a line) was sixty. ’ 

The Honcho seki gives very extensive accounts of the Ninnoe, 
with the names of the leaders and other details. Twenty lines 
of four characters of the gatha recited in A. D. 942 (intercalary 
III 26) are quoted; that of A.D. 986 (II 20) (60 lines of four 
characters) was the ceremonial text of a Dai Ninnoe (a “vernal 
sutra reading”, shunki mido{k)kyd, ^ ^ ^ assisted by 

the ministers and other high dignitaries), composed, not by a 
priest, but by the Uchuben Sugawara Ason Suketada ( 

). It was held in the Daigokuden by a 

hundred priests. - 

The jugwammon of the Rinji Ninnoe of A.D. 1152 (Nimpyb 2, 
III 16) and of A.D. 1153 (II 26, vernal Ninnbe) were gdthds of 
88 and 78 lines of 4 characters, also given in the Honcho seki. ^ 
This work omits the ceremonial text of A. D. 994 (Shoryaku 5, 
V 15), but in other respects the description of that ceremony is 
very interesting. Every high-priest belonging to the sogo ^), 
i. e. to the three leading classes of priests, the Sop, Sbzu and 
Risshi, received two pieces of silk, 20 pieces (fan) of Shinano 
cotton, and 3 koku of rice, and the ordinary priests 5 tan of 
Shinano cotton and 5 measures (to, 4 ) of rice. In the hour of 
the horse (II A. M. — 1 P. M.) the expounding of the sutra began, 
and in the hour of the monkey (3 — 5 P. M.) it came to an end. 
In a hall of the Daigokuden a hundred high seats were erected 
for the officiating priests, who hung a hundred pictures of Buddhist 
figures (Butsuzo) on the Northern wall of the hall and offered 
to them several kinds of Incense and flowers. North of the throne 
the pictures of the Five Great-Power Bodhisattvas ( It ) 

' Ibidem, Ch. xlvii, p. 662. 

^ Honcho seki, Tenkei 5 (942), p. 101; Kwanwa 2 (986), p. 150. 

® Honcho seki, NimpyS 2 and 3, pp. 896, 934. 



Votive texts of Ninnoe. 


189 


were hung, and before the throne the images of the Sanzon 
{Sakyamuni, Manjusn and Samantabhadrd) , made of white sandal 
wood, were placed. In the Seiryoden and in the in, gu and Shinto 
shrines ^ ) the usual rites were performed. The 

leader (kdsfii, of the Seiryoden was the Gonsojo Shinki 

^ Hosso priest (A. D. 932 — 1000), who in A. D. 975 
had been the leader of the Yuimae '); and the kbshi of the Dai- 
gokaden was the Gonshosozii Kakkyo J^)i ^ Tendai priest 
(A. D. 927 — 1014), who from Jie Sojo had learned the public 
and mystic doctrines. " Thus we see that at tliat time no Shingon 
priests were leaders of the Ninnoe rites. By Imperial order the 
Ninnokyd was expounded in the houses of the high officials of 
the capital, and high seats were erected for the same purpose 
at the cross-roads in the suburbs. The holy text should be read 
by tlte whole people, from the highest (the family of the K\vam~ 
paku, who practised the reading in a hundred Buddhist temples) 
to the lowest (wood-cutters and peasants). This was all done 
to expel the prevailing pestilence. Alarge number of officials, 
high and low, young and old, assembled in the court-yard of the 
Daigokiiden, where the reading was held, and, folding their hands 
and bowing down their heads, praising the ceremony and shedding 
tears, they said; “All hands respectfully raise on high the cere- 
monial text; all mouths expound the {Ninno) hannyakyo ■,a\ihou^ 
the calamities sent by Fate are entirely fixed (or their stopping, 
is fixed), yet there is obscure (mystic) assistance that drives 
them away.” " 

As we stated above, the Ninnoe of the provinces fell into disuse 
earlier than those of the Court (perhaps in the beginning of the 
13th century); in the Palace these ceremonies took place until 
the Onin era (1467 — 1469). 

‘ Washio, p. 455, 2, s. v. Shinki. 

2 Washio, p. 135, 1, s. v. Kakkyo. 

^ Honcho seki, Shoryaku 5, V 15, p. 218. 



CHAPTER VI. 


THE MUSHA-DAIE OR “GREAT LIMITLESS 

MEETINGS”, AND THE HOJOE OR “MEETINGS 

FOR LIBERATING LIVING BEINGS”. 

A. The Musha-daie. 

§ 1, The Indian names of this quinquennial festival. 

These Musha-daie or “Great Limitless Meetings”, i. e. Pahca- 
varsika or Panca-varsa-parisad, otherwise termed Mahamoksa- 
parisad, were quinquennial assemblies, explained by Prof, Kern 
as follows. “In the palmy days of Buddhism in India the quin- 
quennial assembly, Pancavarsika (etc.), was a grand solemnity 
and festival. From the description of it in the Divydvadana and 
other sources we may gather that it was something like a Pra- 
varana, a distribution of presents on a large scale, and an occasion 
for an extraordinary display of liberality to the Sarigha. The cele- 
brated King Harsha of Kanauj, surnamed Srladitya, had the custom 
of regularly convoking such an assembly”. ' 

The term “limitless” (musha) means that nobody was excluded 
from these meetings; even the poorest and lowest laymen were 
allowed to partake in them together with priests and noblemen, 
and all laymen had equal rights in distributing alms to the clergy, 
whereas all monks had the same in explaining the Law 
zaise, distribution of clothes, food and drink, land, houses, 
and precious things, and hose, expounding the Law). 

But at the same time it seems to be a transcription of the word 

• Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 101. 



Indian names of Masha-daie. 


191 


moksa (mostly transcribed ^), although this is not stated 
in the Bukkyd daijiten s. v. musha. * The name of the festival 
also being Moksa (deliverance, salvation) mahdparisad, ^ and 
the character ^ sometimes being used as the first part of the 
word moksa, ® whereas the character ^ is used phonetically in 
Wi iS ) we are inclined to think that the word musha 

must be taken as a phonetic sound as well as in its meaning. 

“Limitless" not corresponding with a Sanskrit equivalent as 
regards the name of the festival, we consider the phonetical 
use as primary, and the meaning as secondary, although it agrees 
very well with the nature of the assembly. 

Another term for these festivals is ntuge dal-e, 

“Great Limitless Assembly”, used by the Emperor Wen Ti (A.D. 
560 — 566) of the Ch'en dynasty in his Texts of Repentance (below, 
Ch. VIH, § 13). They are also called daise-e, ^ “Great 

distributing-meetings”; this term is found in the Yaimakyo (Chapter 
on the Bodhisattvas) (NanjO No. 146). 

The transcription of the Sanskrit word pahca-varsika is 
^ , pan-cha wo-sik, Jap. hansha ushitsa, or ^ ^ 

or in other ways. Its correct translation is 5E. ^ ^ i gonen-e, 
or “Five years-meeting”. 

In the dictionary of “sounds and meanings of the whole canon” 
(— Yih-ts'ieh-king yin-i, Issaikyo ongi) (Nanjo 
No, 1605, compiled in A.D. 649 by the Chinese priest Hiien-ying, 
. hence often quoted as Hiien-ying yin-i, Gen-d ongi) 
(Ch. XVII) these transcriptions and the meaning of "Great Five- 
yearly meeting” are given, and King Asoka is said to have held 
such a congregation a hundred years after the Buddha’s Nirvana. 
Apparently this was considered to be the origin of the custom. 

' Daijiten, p. 1702, 2, s. v. musha-, p. 1704, 1, s. v. niusha-e. 

^ Cf. Eitel s. V. Pahca parisad, and Beal, Si-yu-ki, I, p. 52, note 178. 

® Cf. Stanislas Julien, Methode pour dechiffrer et transcrire les noms 
sanserifs, p. 226, s. v. wou ; Eitel s. v. Mokchala. 

•* Daijiten, p. 1434, 1, s. v. hansha-ushi. 



192 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 2. Accounts of the pilgrims Fah-hien and Hiien-tsang. 

In the record of his journey ^ also called le, 

Nanjo No. 1496, written A. D. 414) Fah-hien, the famous pilgrim, 
states that the panca-varsika were great five-yearly meetings held 
by the kings of states. He describes such a congregation in the 
land of ^ (Jap- Kassha) in the Karakorum Mountains of 
Turkestan which he himself v/itnessed. From all sides 

the monks assembled, and during one, two or three months, 
mostly in spring, the king and his ministers made offerings 
according to the Law. Then the king held a meeting and again 
exhorted the ministers to arrange offerings for one, two, three 
or five days, whereafter he ordered his principal retainers to go 
out on horseback and collect ail kinds of precious and useful 
things for the monks. Thereupon the king and his ministers, 
after having made a vow together, distributed those things to 
the monks, finally buying them back from them. ‘ 

Hiien-tsang, in his Ta-Tang si-yiih-ki 
“Records of the Western regions made under the Great T’ang 
dynasty”, Nanjo No. 1503, written A. D. 646, Ch. V) relates that 
(Siladitya, mentioned above) held a musha dale 
once in five years. Then he emplied his stores and distributed 
their contents to the multitude, except the weapons. “ Hiien-tsang 
also mentions these great meetings in Ch. I in connection with 
the countries of Kutche or in E. Turkestan) 

and Bayana ^|5)j in Bokhara. In Kutche outside the western 

gate of the great city two standing images of Buddha, more than 
90 feet high, were erected. Before these images, on the place where 
one great assembly was held every five years, all the priests of 

' Fah-hien chw'en, Nanjo No. 1496, p. 3b; Daijiten, p. 196,2, s. v. Kassha; 
Daijii, III, p. 3890, s. v. Hansha ushitsu. 

2 Nanjo No. 1503, Ch. v, p. 46: ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ’ 

Beal, II, p. 214. 



Fah-hien and Hiien-tsang on the pahca-varsika. 193 

the country assembled yearly at the autumnal equinox during 
several tens of days. The king and all his subjects, from the 
highest to the lowest, (on this occasion) abstained from public 
business and observed a religious fast. Receiving the sutras and 
listening to the Law they did not feel any weariness. ^ 

In Bayana (Bamiyan) every time that the king arranged a musha 
dale he sacrificed all his possessions, from his wife and children 
down to the country’s precious things; and after having emptied 
his treasuries he gave even his own body away. Then his officials 
went to the monks and bought these possessions back from them. 
The congregation took place at a monastery with a gigantic image 
of the Buddha after having entered Nirvana. " 

In the Abhidharma vibhasa-sastra (Nanjo No. 1264, 

translated A.D. 437 — 439, cf. Nanjo No. 1263, 
translated by Hiien-tsang in A.D. 656—659) (Ch. XIV) such a 
meeting, connected with a “long fast” chosai)^ and the 

-distribution of drink and food to many people, is said to have 
been held in order to cause the fulfillment of the donator’s vow 
to become a cakravartin raja. 

§ 3. The Musha-daie in China (A.D. 527, 563 and 765) 
and in Japan (6th—~uth centuries). 

Holding such assemblies was a meritorious work, consisting 
of opening one’s storehouses on behalf of the poor and the vir- 
tuous. According to the author of the article on this subject in 
the Bukkyo daijii (111, p. 3890) the people sometimes made the 

' Ibid., Ch. 1, p. 7 a ; etc.; Beal, 

I, p. 21. 

2 Ibid., Ch. I, p. i7fl: 

fi’ ®H H o Beal, 11, p. 51 sq. 

® Cf. Daijiten, p. 1200, 1, s. v. chdsal. 


13 



194 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


mistake of confounding the musha-e with the segaki-e, the Preta- 
feeding assemblies dealt with above (pp. 76 sqq.). 

The musha-e were meetings from which nobody was excluded ; 
the wise and the stupid, the ordinary men and the sages, high 
and low, monks and nuns and laymen, all were welcome and 
had equal rights to practise the two kinds of distribution, the 
zaise (it M) and the hose ), of property and of the Law. 

In China such a meeting was held in A.D. 527 (Ta-t‘ung 1) 
for the first time in the T‘ung-t‘ai monastery ( ^ by the 

Emperor Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty. ' 

In A.D. 563 (Then-kia 4) the Emperor Wen Ti of the Ch'en 
dynasty held a Musha-daie in the Ta-kih-tien ^ , Daigoku- 

den) of his Palace, on which occasion the Ho do- da rani- ho 

ft ), based upon Nanjo No. 421 {the Mahavaipulya- 
dharam-sutra), the Hokke-sembo “Rites of Re- 

pentance based upon the Lotus siitra (Nanjo No. 134), and the 
Konkwomyo-sembo ( 4^ 1^ •|^ ^)< “Rites of Repentance based 

upon the Suvarna-prabhasa sutra (Nanjo No. 127), were performed. ^ 
In A.D. 765 (Yung-t‘ai 1), when Amoghavajra ( ^ ^ 
expounded the Ninnokyo (^ 3E ^bove, Ch. I, § 7, Ch. V) 

in the Southern Peach Garden of the Ta-Ming Palace (^ ^ ^ 
^ SI) i'l the Chinese capital Ch'ang-ngan, the Emperor 
Tai-tsung (^ ^)j who in person wrote a preface to the trans- 
lation of this text, held a Musha-e in praise of this sutra. ^ 

In Japan the first musha-e was convoked by the Empress 
Suiko in the fourth year of her reign (A.D. 596), when in the 
11 th month the building of Hokoji (Asuka-dera) was finished. 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 1704, s. v. musha-e-, Daijii, III, p. 3890, s. v. Hansha 
ushitsu-, cf. below Ch. viii, § 13 (A.D. 557 — 565). 

^ iiiH. Puh-tsu tung-ki (Busso toki), a history of Chinese 

Buddhism compiled about A. D. 1269 — 1271 by the T'ien-t'ai priest Chi-p‘an, 
Ch. XXXVii (Nanjo No. 1661). As to the rites of repentance cf. 
below, Ch. VIII, §§ 7, 12, 18. 

3 Himifsu jirin, p. 925, s. v. Fuku Sanzo. 



Musha-daie in China and Japan. 


195 


This is not stated in the Nihongi, but in the GenkO Shakusho. * 
A masha-daie or “Great Unlimited Meeting” was (theoretically) 
held once in five years. 

According to Washio Junkyo in his Nihon bukke jimmei jisho 
(p. 1053, s. V. Hodd) - the Tendai priest Hodo (^ ^), an Indian 
monk who was said to have come to Japan by way of China 
and Korea, “riding on a purple cloud”, and who lived as an 
ascetic on Hokke-san in Satsuma, reading the Hokkekyd (the 
Lotus sutra), worshipping a copper image of Senju Kwannon 
(the Thousand-armed Avalokitesvara) and a relic of Buddha, and 
practising mystic meditation, in Taikwa 5 (A.D. 649) was sum- 
moned to the Palace, where he cured the Emperor Kotoku by 
his prayers. He remained in the Palace for seven days, explained 
the Law and held a musha-e; then he returned to Hokke-san, 
wherCj the Emperor had a chapel built for his Senju Kwannon 
image. The next year His Majesty went there in person and 
celebrated the dedicatory ceremony of the chapel {kuyo-e, m 
^ ^), and in A.D. 651 a Daizokyo-e (^ ^ ^ ^) (cf. that 
of the last day of the year, described in the Nihongi and mentioned 
above, Ch. I, § 4, p. 8) was held according to this priest’s in- 
structions, as well as a maigre entertainment (sai-e) in the second 
month. Afterwards he said that he was a rsi mA, sennin) 
from the Vulture Peak, near Rajagrha, who had come to Japan 
only for a time in order to lead (the Emperor and the people) 
on the road of the Law. Then, after pronouncing one gathd, he 
flew away through the air. In many provinces monasteries were 
said to have been erected by this legendary monk, e. g. Jodoji, 
in Tanshu (the present Tamba, Tango and Tajima 

provinces). 


' Genko Shakusho, ^ , Kokushi /fff/rez Vol.xi v,Ch. XX, p.980. 


2 Washio refers to the Genko Shakusho (Ch. xxi, p- 991, where the great 
Palace meeting of the 30th of the 12th month of A. D. 651 is said to have 
been due to this monk's teaching) and to the Honcho kosoden (57 kwan, 
written in 1702 by the Rinzai priest Shiban, a® m (A.D. 1626—1710). 



196 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In A.D. 686 (XII 19) a “Kagiri-naki ogami” 

Masha dai-e) or “Limitless Great Assembly" was held in the five 
principal Buddhist temples, i. e. those of Asuka, Kawara, Owarida, 
Toyora and Sukata, on behalf of the soul of the Emperor Temmu, 
who had died three months before (IX 9). ‘ 

In A.D. 688 (I 8) one such great congreation was held in the 
Yakashi temple, for the same reason. ^ 

In A.D. 693 (V 15 and IX 10) (five years later) two of these 
great assemblies were held within the inner precincts of the Palace. 
The second time it again took place on behalf of the Emperor 
Temmu’s soul, and all prisoners were released (seven years after 
his death). ^ 

In A.D. 697 (III 8) such a great meeting took place in the 
Eastern Palace (of the Heir-Apparent). ^ In this year, as well as 
in A.D. 693, we repeatedly read of Shinto prayers for rain; 
it may be that the Buddhist congregations were thought also to 
be useful in averting the prevailing drought and thus 
liberating the country from suffering. 

We do not find a musha-daie mentioned in the eighth century 
except in A.D. 745 (Vlll 14), again a year of severe drought; it 
was held in the Daianden 

In A.D. 861 (Jokwan 3) the Shingon priest Shinnyo ( ^ 
a pupil of Kobo Daishi, who six years earlier had repaired the 
Daihatsu of Todaiji, arranged a musha-daie in that temple, on 
which occasion more than three thousand monks were enter- 
tained {kuyd). “ 

In A.D. 926 (Encho 4, XII 19) the Court nobles held a mus/zc-se 
(iffiiSiS) or “Unlimited distribution" (offering to the priests, 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 546; Aston II, p. 384. 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 548; Aston II, p. 387. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxx, pp. 565 sq.; Aston II, pp. 412 sq. 

'* Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 571 ; Aston II, p. 422. 

® Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvi, p. 260. 

* Himitsu Jirin, p. 541, s. v. Shinnyo-, Sandai jitsurokd, Ch. v, p. 81. 



Musha-daie in Japan {6th — ijth cent). 


197 


i. e. a musha-daie) of 1200 koku of grain, with sutra readings 
in 14 great temples, seven of Kyoto and seven of Nara, to cele- 
brate the sixtieth birthday of the Emperor Daigo. ' 

In A.D. 966 the Tendai priest Ryogen A.D. 912 — 985) 

became zasu of Enryakuji and did his utmost to promote the 
glory of Hieizan, not only by building many chapels and pagodas 
and increasing the number of ajari from thirteen to sixteen, but 
also by holding several musha-daie. This great priest, who in 
A.D. 980 led a Godampo or “Five Altars-ceremony” (in honour 
of the Five Vidyd-rajas) in the Palace and the following year, 
after having twice cured the Emperor Enyu, became Daisojo, 
died in A.D. 987 and received the posthumous title of Jie Daisojo 

In A.D. 1007 the Tendai priest Hyogwan (2p j^) prayed to 
obtain a miraculous sign of his future rebirth in Amitabha’s Paradise 
{Gokuraku ojO) in consequence of his virtuous actions. The next 
day more than a thousand white lotus flowers shot up on the 
bank of the Kamo river (near Kyoto) and spread a strange smell. 
Therewith he was sure to be reborn in Paradise. His virtuous 
deeds were: writing the HokkekyOy painting Buddha images and 
opening a mush a-e on the bank of the Kamo river. “ 

We gather from the above facts that the Tendai and Shingon ' 
sects were the main propagators of this kind of general congre- 
igations, and that they took place in temples except at the end 
^of the seventh century and in the eighth, when the Court held 
.them in the palaces. 

B. Meetings for liberating living beings ( <4^ ^). 

§ 1. The twentieth commandment of the Brahmajala-sutra. 

The BommDkyd (^ ^^) {Brahmajala-sutra, NanjO No. 1087, 

' Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiv, pp. 1065 sq. 

2 Washio, p. 1175 sq., s. v. Ryogen. 

^ Washio, p. 1022, s. v. Hyogwan. 



198 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


to be treated below, Ch. XV, § 1) is a famous work, belonging 
to the Vinaya of Mahayana and translated in A.D. 406 by 
KuniarajTva. Its second part deals with the ten Pratimoksas, the 
strict commandments of the Bodhisattvas, and the 48 secondary 
commandments, to be followed by all Buddha sons. The twentieth 
of these 48 is entitled “commandment (litt. warning) against not 
practising the liberation and rescue (of living beings)” ^ 
It runs as follows. “If one is a son of Buddha, one 
must, with a merciful heart, intentionally practise the work of 
liberating living beings ^ ^ ff WC ^ 

^). All men are our fathers, all women are our mothers. All 
our existences have taken birth from them. Therefore all the 
living beings of the six gati are our parents, and if we kill 
them, we kill our parents and also our former bodies ; for 
all earth and water are our former bodies, and all fire and 
wind are our original substance. Therefore you must always 
practise liberation of living beings {hojo, ) (since to pro- 

duce and receive life is the eternal law) and cause others to do 
so; and if one sees a wordly person kill animals, he must by 
proper means save and protect them and free them from their 
misery and danger”. ' 

§ 2. Ten thousand fishes saved by the Buddha in 
a former incarnation. 

In the fourth chapter of the Konkwomyokyo {Suvarnaprabhdsa 
sutra, translated A.D. 414 — 423 by Dharmaraksha 11, Nanjo No. 127) 
the sresthin “Flowing Water” (ife***. Rusui choja) rescues 
ten thousand fishes. This former incarnation of Sakyamuni was 
called Jalavahana, and had two sons, who, according to the 
Buddha who relates this story of one of his former births, were 
previous incarnations of his son Rahula and his favourite disciple 

' Bommokyo, 11, p. 121, 1 (small ed.); p. 11 (large ed.); De Groot, Code 
du Mahayana en Chine, p. 53. 



Ten thousand fishes saved. 


199 


Ananda. During a trip Jalavahana, accompanied by his sons, came 
to a large, deep valley with a pond, which had dried up, so that 
the 10000 fishes in it were exposed to the sun and about to die 
and become the food of birds and quadrupeds. Full of compassion 
the sresthin covered them with branches and caused 20 big 
elephants to transport river water to the pond, thus saving the 
life of all the fishes. Then he gave them food and, as spiritual 
nourishment, he spoke to them of the Buddha and his doctrine. 
Afterwards, when he gave a large banquet in his house, a severe 
earthquake caused all those ten thousand fishes to die together 
and, by the influence of his former preaching, they were all 
reborn as angels in the Trayashimsat heaven {Writen). When that 
night after the banquet the sresthin lay asleep in an upper room 
of his house, he saw those ten thousand angels arrive; they 
brought him numberless pearls and ornamental rings {yoraku), 
and scattered heavenly flowers upon him as a reward for the 
great favour obtained from him in former days. They were, as the 
Buddha said, the ten thousand deva sons present at the meeting. ' 

This passage is said to have been the origin of the hojo-e or 
“meetings for liberating living beings”, so frequent in Chinese 
and Japanese Buddhism. But the commandment of the Bommokyo 
as well as many other passages of the holy texts were, of course, 
powerful warnings against the killing of animals and promised 
heavenly rewards to those who liberated and saved them. It is 
well-known that from olden times one of the six utensils of the 
Buddhist monks {rokumotsu, “six things”) “ was the parisravana 
or water-strainer, ^ the rokusui-no ( ) or “bag for filtering 
water”, also called rokuno or rokusuitai (^, bag), intended 
to save small animals living in the water, which otherwise would 
be killed by using it. ^ 

’ Konkwomyokyo, Ch. iv; Daijii, III, 2, s. v. Rusui choja. 

2 Daijii, III, p. 4619, 2, s.v. rokumotsu. 

2 Kern, Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 80. 

* Daijii, III, p. 4603, 1, s.v. rokusui-no. 



200 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 3. The hojo-e in China (6th — uth cent. A.D.). 

In the second half of the sixth century Chi-i (:^ H). i- e. 
Chi-che ta-shi (:^ ^ ^ (A.D. 531 — 597), the founder of 

the T‘ien-tai sect, came to Yoh-cheu (-^ ) in Hunan province, 

where the Siang-kiang river and its affluents flow into the great 
Tung-t‘ing lake. ' By expounding the Konkwomyokyo he converted 
the people of the whole region and caused more than thousand 
fishermen to abandon their work (on account of the passage treated 
above). Moreover, in Cheh-kiang province, where S.W. of Ningpo 
the celebrated T‘ien-t‘ai-shan rises and with its height of nearly 
4000 feet forms the highest point of the Southern mountain range, 
which, running into the sea, ends at the Chusan (Cheushan) 
archipelago, ^ he purchased 300 miles of land, from the bay of 
T‘ien-t‘ai to the land of Hu-liang, and presented this to the royal 
family as a “place for letting loose living beings” (Ifk ^ 
hdjoji). At the same time he made the bay of T‘ien-t‘ai a “pond 
for liberating living beings” hOjochi), where he caused 

the fishermen of the coast to liberate fishes and molluscs, in order 
to make progress themselves on the path to Salvation. This was 
all based upon the story of the sresthin Jalavahana (Rusui choja), 
and was the origin of the Hope. ® 

Between A.D. 700 and 712 the famous pilgrim I-tsing (^ ‘^) 
wrote a small work of 3 leaves, entitled: “Rules (kalpa) for 
life-protecting liberation of living beings”, ^ 

Hu-ming fang-shdng kwei-i fah, Gomyo hop kigi ho (Nanjo 
No. 1508). 

In A.D. 759 (K‘ien-yuen 2) the Emperor Suh-tsung (^ ^) 
of the T'ang dynasty by Imperial Ordinance instituted 81 “ponds 
for liberating living beings”, and the powerful Yen Chen-k‘ing 
R (A.D.709 — 785), who “when acting as Censor in Shansi 

' Richard, Comprehensive geography oj the Chin, empire, pp. 132, 136. 

2 Ibid., p. 228. 

® Daijii, HI, p. 4123, 3, s. v. hojoe-, Daijiten, p. 1388, 2, s. v. hopchi. 



Hojo-e in China {6 th — ijth cent.). 


201 


set at liberty a number of persons who had been unjustly confined; 
whereupon rain, which had been long prayed for in vain, fell upon 
the parched fields”, ' wrote the inscription of the stone monument 
erected on this occasion (i. e. in A.D. 759, about the ponds). - 

In the ninth century Tsung-mih (A.D. 779—840), the 

fifth patriarch of the Hwa-yen {Kegon, Avatamsaka) school, respect- 
fully called „the Great Teacher of the Kwei peak” ^ 

m, Kwei-fan Ta-shi), ® in his “Commentary on the Avalambana 
sufra” ( ;^ jU ^ .^ ) (Nanjo No. 1601) wrote about the 
“hojo-e of the three times” 3t the end of the 

year, at the end of the summer (i.e. of the Summer Retreat of the 
monks and nuns, angd), and on days of mourning (for one’s parents) 

( ^ 7 S V® 5 ^ 

In A.D. 1017 (T‘ien-hi 1) the Emperor Chen-tsung (^ ^) of 
the Northern Sung dynasty issued an ordinance by means of which 
he res'tored the rule of the hojo ponds and forbade fishing within 
an area of five miles above and below the regions along the 
Yang-tsze-kiang and the Hwai river. ® 

About the same time the well-known T‘ien-fai priest Tsun-shlh 
(^xJ^) (A.D. 963—1032), alias Ts‘zg-yun, ^ “Cloud of 
Compassion” (Nanjo App. Ill, no. 47), in a memorial to the Throne 
made the West Lake {Si-hu, *^) in Cheh-kiang province 
(where the 500 Arhats were worshipped) ® a “pond for liberating 
living beings”; there he held an assembly of the people of the 
district on the Buddha’s birthday (IV 8) and caused them to let 
loose fishes and birds, at the same time praying for long life for 
the Emperor. ’ 

' Giles, Chin. Biogr. Diet., No. 2461. 

= Chi-p'an ’s ^ iiig. ^ Fah-tsu t'ung-ki, Nanjo No. 1661 

(A.D. 1269—1271), Ch. xxxiil. 

3 Nanjo, App, III, No. 38. 

* Fah-tsu t‘ung-ki, 1. 1., quoted Daijiten, p. 1388, 2, s. v. hojochi-, Daijii, 
III, p. 4123, 3, s. V. hojo-e. 

® Ibid., 1.1. 

® Cf. the present writer’s Arhats in China and Japan, Ch. ii, § 15, p. 34sqq. 

’’ Fah-tsu t‘ung-ki, 1.1.; Daijii, Daijiten, 1.1. 



202 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Another famous T‘ien-t‘ai priest, Chi-li called SzS- 

ming tsun-che ( ) or “The Saint of Sze-ming-shan" 

(in Cheh-kiang province), who compiled in about A.D. 1020 ten 
works of the Canon (Nanjo App. HI, 51), yearly celebrated the 
Buddha’s birthday in the same way, namely by letting loose 
fishes and birds at the South Lake (Nan-ku) and praying for 
the Emperor. When the Governor of the district reported this 
matter to the Emperor, His Majesty ordered the Ch‘u-mih (flate. 
General, Military Leader) Liu Kiiin to compose an inscription 
and erect a stone monument at the temple gate. ’ 

We learn from these passages that some of the Chinese T'ang 
and Sung Emperors and high dignitaries paid much attention to 
these meetings, and that the T‘ien-t‘ai sect was their principal 
propagator. 

•j 

§ 4. The hojo-e, prohibition of killing living beings, and 
general amnesty in Japan. 

A. In the seventh century. 

The Genko Shakusho and the Fuso ryakki, always inclined to 
antedate Buddhist events in Japan, say that already in A.D. 578, 
in the seventh year of Bidatsu Tenno’s reign (II) Prince Toyoto- 
mimi (i. e. Shotoku Taishi) (A.D. 572 — 621), who was only seven 
years old (six according to our calculation of age), issued a 
memorial to the Throne with regard to the Six Fasting Days 
{rokusai-nichi, ^ 0 ) (the 8th^ 14th and 15th of the byaku- 

gwatsu, Q ^ , the “white month”, i. e. the “bright half” of 
the Indian month, and the 23th, 29th and 30th of the kokugwatsu, 
^ ^ , the “black month”, i. e. the “dark half”). On these days 
the demons are more dangerous than ever, and the Four Deva 
Kings {Shitenno), who on the 8th (and 23 th) send their messengers 

‘ Ibid., 1.1. 



The six fast-days in Japan {6th cent.). 


203 


to the earth, in order to examine the virtuous and evil deeds of 
mankind, and to observe, whether they are pious and obedient 
to their parents, respectful to the monks and elders, faithful in 
keeping the fasts and the commandments, liberal in their offerings 
to the Sahgha and compassionate in rescuing the poor, after 
having obtained their reports on the 14th (and 29th) send their 
eldest sons, and on the 15th (and 30th) come themselves to make 
personal investigations concerning their good and evil deeds. ‘ 
They are the so-called “fasting days of the eight commandments” 
, hakkai sainichi). - According to the Faso ryakki 
Shotoku Taishi stated that on those days Brahma and Indra 
came to look how the empire was ruled, and that then the killing 
of living beings {sessho, ^ ought to be forbidden. The 
Emperor (his uncle) followed this advice and by Imperial Ordinance 
forbade the taking of life on the six fasting days. ^ 

The* Nihongi does not mention this early fact; there we only 
read that three months before (A.D. 577, XI 1) the King of 
Kudara had presented to the Japanese Emperor not only a number 
of holy texts, but also three monks, a nun, a maker of Buddhist 
images and a temple architect, and that a temple had been founded 
at Naniwa. In A.D. 691, however, in the fifth year of JitbTenno’s 
reign (II 1), this Empress addressed a decree to the Ministers, 
saying: “In the reigns of the (former) Emperors {Tenno no yo ni) 
the Nobles erected Buddhist Halls and Sutra Treasuries, and 
practised the six monthly fasts {tsUki-goto no mu-yori no imi, 
^ ^). From time to time the Emperors sent Ohotoneri to 

inquire after the welfare of the priests, and the same has also 
been done in Our own reign. Let us therefore with zealous hearts 
continue to uphold the Buddhist faith.” ^ 

It is probable, indeed, that such a fervent propagator of Buddhism 

’ Daijii, 111, p. 4583, 2, s. v. rokusai-nichi. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1822, 3, s. v. rokusai-nichi-, p. 157, 3, s. v. hakkai-sai. 

^ Genko Shakusho, Ch. xx, p. 974; Fuso ryakki, Ch. m, p. 489. 

■' Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 558; Aston 11, p. 402. 



204 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


as Shotoku Taishi may soon have tried to introduce the observance 
of the fasting days and, connected therewith, the prohibition of 
killing living beings on those days. At any rate Jito Tenno’s words 
point to an early institution of the six monthly fasts. As to these 
holidays or Sabbaths in India, Prof. Kern mentions four of them, 
kept in Ceylon, Burma and Nepal on the days of the new-moon, 
of the full-moon and on the 8th of each Paksa (half-month), i.e. 
on the first, eighth, fifteenth and twenty-third ; in Tibet on the 
14th, 15th, 29th and 30th. Evidently the Chinese Buddhists have 
combined these dates into a system of six. 

The first Japanese Emperor to order hojo {ikimono wo hanatsu^ 
^ in all provinces was Temmu Tenno, who in A.D. 676, 
the fifth year of his reign (VIII 17), after having commanded a 
Great Purification to be held in all quarters, issued a decree, 
saying: "Let all sentences of death, confiscation, or the three 
classes of banishment be mitigated one degree” and, granting 
pardon to those about to be banished, at the same time ordered 
the various provinces “to let loose living beings”. Probably he 
took these measures because “that summer there was great 
drought” and in the 7th month “a star (evidently a comet) 
had appeared in the East, seven or eight feet in length. In the 
9th month it at length disappeared from the sky”. Three months 
after this first hojo ordinance (XI 19) he again “gave orders to 
release living things”, but this time only to the provinces near 
the capital. ' 

A “general amnesty granted throughout the Empire” 

) is mentioned for the first time in A.D. 673 (Temmu 
Tenno’s second year of reign, III 17), because in Bingo province 
a white pheasant (a very auspicious omen) had been caught 
and presented to the Emperor. ^ It was again proclaimed in A.D. 
677 (XI 1), when the Viceroy of Tsukushi had presented a red 
crow, another very lucky omen, because a red crow with three 

> Nihongi, Ch. xxix, pp. 511 sq.; Aston II, pp. 334 sq. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 504; Aston II, p. 322. 



Hojo, prohibition of killing, and amnesty. 205 

legs was supposed to inhabit the sun, and in A.D. 683 (I 18), 
when a three-legged sparrow, sent from the same province, had 
caused great joy at the Court. ' 

In A.D. 675 (IV 17), twelve days after having given a great 
feast of vegetable fare to 2400 monks and nuns, the Emperor 
issued a decree to the provinces, saying: “Henceforth fishermen 
and hunters are to be restrained from making pitfalls or using 
spear-traps and such like contrivances. Moreover, from IV 1 to 
IX 13, let no one set himi-sakiri fish-traps. Further, let no one 
eat the flesh of cows, horses, dogs, monkeys, or barn-door fowls. 
This prohibition does not extend to other kinds of meat. Offenders 
against this regulation will be punished”. ® 

In A.D. 680 (XI 12), when the Empress-consort was unwell, 
Temmu Tenno, “having made a vow on her behalf, began the 
erection of Yakushiji, and made one hundred persons enter religion 
as priests {^, do Seshimu). In consequence of this the Empress 
recovered her health. On this day an amnesty was granted (^ 
IP ). ^ Six years later (A.D. 686, V 24), when the Emperor himself 
was very ill (he died the same year, IX 9), not only was the 
Yakushikyd expounded in the Temple of Kawara and a Retreat 
{ongo) held within the Palace, but also “the Ohotoneri of the 
Left and Right were sent to cleanse the Halls and Pagodas of 
the Temples. Accordingly a general pardon throughout the Empire 
was proclaimed, and the prisons were empty”; VII 15 again “a 
general amnesty was granted”. ■* 

In A.D. 684, when on XII 13 “there was a general pardon to 
all criminals except those guilty of capital crimes”, we do not 
read why this took place, but on IV 16 of the same year a pardon, 
"given to the Toneri (attendants of the Emperor) who had been 
guilty of offences”, was due to a vegetarian feast (of monks, sat), 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, pp. 514, 529; Aston II, pp. 337, 359. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 508; Aston II, p. 328. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 521 ; Aston II, p. 348. 

■* Nihongi, Ch. xxix, pp. 541 sq.; Aston II, pp. 376 sqq. 



206 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


prepared that day within the Palace. ‘ Thus there was a close 
connection between Buddhist meritorious measures, such as 
cleansing the temples or entertaining the monks and nuns, and 
the granting of a general or partial amnesty. 

The Empress Jito (A.D. 687 — 697, VIII 1) likewise frequently 
pardoned criminals throughout the Empire, either on behalf 
of Temmu Tenno’s soul (A.D. 687, VI 28; 688, VI 11; 
693, IX 10, when a masha-daie was held in the Palace and all 
prisoners were released ; probably it took place the day before, 
on the seventh anniversary of his death), ^ or in case of illness 
(A.D. 689, III 24, probably because the Prince Imperial Kusakabe, 
who died IV 13, was severely ill), or when the crops were 
damaged by too profuse rain (A.D. 691, VI 20, when the 
Empress also ordered abstinence from strong drink and animal 
food, repentance of sins, and reading of sutras for five days). ® 
She further gave amnesty when she proceeded to the 
Great Shrine of Ise (A.D. 692, III 17, IV 25, when she also 
exempted the sacred districts, the horse-men, bagage-coolies and 
labourers in her service during the journey, and the families who 
had provided horsemen, from commuted taxes and forced labour; 
at times of drought (A.D. 692, VII 2, VIII 3; 697, VI 2, VII 7); 
when she was about to remove her residence to the Palace 
of Fujiwara (A.D. 694, XI, 26), and after an eclipse of the 
sun (A.D. 696, VII 2; perhaps also because Prince Takechi, 
who died eight days later, was severely ill). * 

In the third year of her reign (A.D. 689, VIII 16) “hunting 
and fishing were prohibited in the sea of Muko in the province 
of Settsu for a distance of 1000 paces (^), for a space of 
20000 shiro (^) on the plain of Nagino, Ate district, Kii pro- 
vince ; and for a space of 20000 shiro on the plains of Minono, 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxix, pp. 533, 535; Aston II, pp. 364, 367. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxx, pp. 547, 549, 566; Aston II, pp. 385, 388, 413. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxx, pp. 551, 559; Aston II, pp. 391, 403. 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxx, pp. 561, 563, 568, 570; Aston II, pp. 406 sq., 409, 417, 420. 



Amnesty and prohibition of killing (Jth cent.). 207 

Iga district, Iga province. Keepers ^ mon) were attached 
to these places in the same way as to the Sea of Takashi in 
Otori district, Kawachi province”. Five days afterwards the Empress 
ordered the Governor-General of lyo to set at liberty the white 
swallow (a good omen), caught in Miki district, Sanuki province. ‘ 
We see by these actions how devoutly she followed the Buddhist 
rules of sparing and releasing living beings, from mankind to 
the lowest animals. 

§ 4, B. In the eighth century. 

In A.D. 720 (Yoro 4, IX), when there were riots in the provinces 
of Hyuga and Osumi (Kyushu), the Court sent messengers to the 
Hachiman shrine, the temple of the Shinto wargod Hachiman, 
at Usfi in Buzen province (the L/sa Jingu, ^ I# ^ in 
order to pray for pacification of the rebels. By means 
of possession (§^) the great god gave the following oracle. 

“In joining the spears the dead and wounded are many. 1 pity 
them very much, and I wish that after the pacification of the rebels, 
(the ceremony of) letting loose living beings {hbjd) may be estab- 
lished in all provinces”. This was, according to Shiren (gj^ i^), 
a Rinzai priest, author of the Genko Shakusho {A-D. 1278 — 1346), 
the origin of the Hachiman hojo-e. ^ The Faso ryakki states the 
same fact, and adds that, when the Court nobles prayed in the 
Usa shrine, its priest led the sacred troops to the riotous pro- 
vinces and subdued them. Those enemies having been pacified, 
the great god gave the oracle about the liberation of living beings, 
which was the beginning of the hojo-e of all provinces. ® The 
Shoku Nihongi does not mention this oracle, nor the assistance 
of Hachiman against the insurgents. 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 553 ; Aston 11, p. 394. 

2 Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxii, p. 1011; this work also mentions hojo in all 
provinces in A. D. 725 (IV), p. 1012. 

3 Fuso ryakki, Ch. vi, p. 548. 



208 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In A.D. 726 (Jinki 3, VI 15), when the Dajo Tenno (the Em- 
press Gensho, who had abdicated two years before and who 
lived till 748) was unwell, her nephew and successor, Shomu 
Tenno, ordered hojo in all provinces of the realm. ' 

In A.D. 732 (Tempyo 4, Vll 5) he tried to expel the severe 
drought by prayers and offerings of gohei to the Shinto gods 
of famous mountains and large rivers, by forbidding the use 
of strong spirits and the slaughter of animals, by 
rendering assistance to widowers and helpless and solitary people, 
who could not live independently, and by granting amnesty 
to the realm. “ 

In A.D. 737 (Tempyo 9, VIII 2) he ordered the monks and 
nuns of all provinces to purify themselves, to bathe two or three 
times a month, and to read the Saishookyo; he further forbade 
the killing of living beings on the six fasting day s. 
Evidently it was necessary to repeat this ancient rule, which had 
been neglected. Also in A.D. 741 (III 24), in his famous ordinance 
by which he instituted the kokubunji, he added the prohibition 
of fishing, hunting, and otherwise killing animals, publicly as 
well as privately, on the six fasting days of every month. The 
governors of the provinces had constantly to control the obser- 
vance of this rule. ^ 

In A.D. 745 (Tempyo 17, IX 19), when Shomu Tenno was 
indisposed, he had Yakushi kekwa ceremonies performed in all 
the Buddhist temples of the capital and the Home provinces and 
in all the shrines (“pure places”) of the famous mountains; he 
further sent gohei and prayers to the Shinto sanctuaries of Kamo 
and Matsu-no-o, caused 3800 persons to become monks, and 
ordered all the provinces to set free the falcons and cor- 
morants in their possession (with the double aim of liberating 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. ix, p. 157. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XI, p. 187. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XII, p. 210. 

•* Ibid., Ch. XIV, p. 234. 



Amnesty and prohibition of killing (8th cent), 209 

those birds and prohibiting hunting and fishing with them). The 
next day he ordered the Governor of Satsuma province to offer 
up gohei to the shrine of Hachiman (in Usa), and proclaimed 
that a hundred copies of the whole Daihannyakyo (600 kwari) 
should be made by the people of the capital and the provinces, 
who also had to make seven Yakushi images, six shaku three 
sun high, and to copy seven kwan of the Yakushikyd. ‘ 

In A.D. 748 (Tempyo 20, III 8) he granted a great amnesty to 
the Empire, in order to purify the country from all the crimes 
committed by the people, because everywhere there was sin and 
he alone had to wash away all this impurity. Shortly afterwards 
the Dajd Tenno, the Empress Gensho, died, aged 69 years (IV 21) ; 
it may be that also her illness caused him to try to save her 
life by this merciful act. The next year (A.D. 749, I 1 — 6) he 
ordered kekwa to be performed in all Buddhist temples of the 
realm, during the first seven days of the year, and tendoku of 
the Konkwdmyokyo; throughout the country no killing of living 
beings was allowed during that time. ^ 

The Empress Koken (749 VII 2 — 758 VIII 1), like her father 
Shbmu Tenno a very devout Buddhist, repeatedly tried to purify 
the country or to restore the health of her parents by general 
or partial amnesty. Thus it accompanied her proclamation of 
A.D. 750 (Tempyo Shoho 2, IV 4) about her taking refuge with 
the Yakushikyo and performing circumambulations and ceremonies 
of repentance {gyddo kekwd), in order to wash away the sins of 
the people, and that of A.D. 751 (X 23) about the ceremonies 
for lengthening the life of her father, to be practised for seven 
days by 49 wise priest in Shin-Yakushiji, who were entertained 
with vegetable fare, in order to restore his health. ® 

In A.D. 754 (TempyD Shoho 6, XI 8) she issued on ordinance 
for the peace and repose of her parents (“the two venerable ones”, 

‘ Ibid., Ch. XVI, p. 261. 

2 Ibid., Ch. xvii, p. 275, 277. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XVIII, pp. 294, 298. 


14 



210 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


nison), and for the lengthening of their precious lives. She again 
invited 49 (7 X 7) priests to worship Yakushi Rurikwd Butsu, 
the Healing Buddha, from whose siitra she quoted the words: 
“Hang up banners for continuing life, light 49 lamps, and set 
free all kinds of living beings”. ' She added that since the highest 
form of hojo was to rescue human beings, according to this 
doctrine she ought to proclaim a great amnesty for the Empire, 
with the exception of those who had committed serious crimes, 
such as murder, false coinage, robbery and theft, and other crimes 
which were usually excepted in case of amnesty; the punishment 
of those who had been sentenced to death was to be mitigated 
by one degree. ^ 

In A.D. 756 (Tempyo ShOho 8, VI 8) she forbade sessho (the 
killing of living beings) in all provinces from VI 8 to the next 
year V 30, on account of the mourning for her father Shomu, 
who had died the previous month (V 2). ® 

Two years afterwards (A.D. 758, TempyD Hoji 2, VII 4) she 
tried to restore her mother’s health and to lengthen her life by 
the same prohibition, this time lasting from VII 4 to XII 30, and 
by stating that wild boars and stags could not be presented for 
a long time. At the same time she gave freedom to all male 
and female slaves, except to those belonging to the magistrates 
and Court. * 

During her second reign (that of Shotoku Tenno), in A.D. 768 
(XII 4), her favourite, the ambitious and deceitful Hosso priest 
Dokyo (^^), proposed to the Empress to give titles of nobility 
to some persons and amnesty to the country on account of a 
pretended lucky omen. The priest Kishin ($ ^) of Yamashina- 
dera {Kdfukuji, Hosso), who taught heretical doctrines and obscure 

’ Cf. below, Ch. xiv, § 1. In the text of the sBtra the number 49 is also 
used with regard to the liberation of living beings. 

^ Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xix, p. 311. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XIX, p. 316. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 347. 



Amnesty and prohibition of killing (8th cent.). 211 

matters, had made an image of Bishamon Ten {Vaisravana Deva) 
and secretly placed some pearls (or rosary beads) before it, which 
he pretended were relics of the Buddha. Dokyo, who wished to 
delude the people by something conspicuous, said that it was 
a felicitous omen and advised the Empress to proclaim amnesty 
and give ranks of nobility. Kishin actually obtained the title of 
Mononobe no Kiyoshi no Ason, and the rank of Ho-sangi, with 
eight military followers; but we do not read that the amnesty 
was granted. ’ 

In A.D. 773 (Hbki 4, XII 25) Shotoku Tenno’s successor, Konin 
Tenno, following the example, given by her in A.D. 754, in order 
to increase his fields of felicity and heighten the glory of the 
dynasty by the blessing power of great compassion, according 
to the Yakushikyo, not only entertained wise priests and caused 
them to perform circumambuiations around Yakushi’s image, but 
also proclaimed a great amnesty (serious crimes excepted) through- 
out the Empire, because man was the most important of the living 
beings, whose liberation was prescribed by that sutra. ^ 

His son Kwammu Tenno (A.D. 781,1V 1 — 806,111 17, his death), 
who was much less devout than his predecessors, did not think 
of such measures until the beginning of A.D. 805 (Enryaku 24, 1 7). 
Then his illness, which ended with his death in the following 
year, A.D. 806, III 70, at the age of 70 (i. e. 69) years, caused 
him to request the Daihoshi (High-priest) Shogu, a Hosso priest, 
to set falcons and dogs free (both used in hunting); on 
hearing this the attendant ministers could not repress their tears. 
At the same time he ordered a Buddhist temple to be built for 
Sudo Tenno in Awaji, in order to soothe his angry soul. Moreover, 
he pardoned the monks whom he had caused to retire, and allowed 
them to return to their monasteries, and he gave orders that all the 
Buddhist temples and pagodas of the country should be repaired. 

' Ibid., Ch. XXIX, p. 500. 

2 Ibid., Ch. xxxu, p. 572. 

3 Nihon kdkl, Ch. xii, p. 43; as to Sudo Tenno cf. below Ch. xi, § 7, F. 



212 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

Afterwards no hojo-e are mentioned in the Annals beyond 
those of Iwashimizu, to be treated in the next paragraph. 


§ 5. The hojo-e of the Hachiman shrine in Iwashimizu. 

A. The Hachiman shrine in Usa, Buzen province, and 
that of Tsuru-ga-oka near Kamakura. 

We saw above (§ 4, B, p. 207) that according to the Genko 
Shakusho and the Fusd ryakki the origin of the Hachiman hojo-e 
was the oracle of the war-god Hachiman of the Usa shrine in 
Buzen province, given in A.D. 720 (Yoro 4, IX) to the Court 
nobles with regard to the rebellion of Hyuga and Osumi provinces. 

The name of this Shinto god Hachiman (Yahata, pronounced 
Yawata), the “Eight Banners”, /V points to China as the 
country whence it was borrowed. Although the number eight 
was also very important to primitive Japan, in China it was 
evidently connected with the eight quarters, and used in relation 
with many very ancient conceptions and groups. ’ Even in the 
Ts'ing dynasty the Chinese army consisted of eight divisions 
under eight banners ( A , pah k'i), two of which were yellow, 
two white, two red and two blue, whereas those of the same 
colour had different borders. ^ 

There are several different traditions as to the origin of this 
Shinto deity, who was said to be the third son of Jimmu Tenno 
or of Jingo Kwogd, or Ugayafuki-aezu no Mikoto, or Ojin Tenno-, 
from the Jokwan era (A.D, 859 — 876) this last identification was 
generally accepted, but it seems to be most probable that it was 
originally a cult of Hiko-hohodemi no Mikoto and his Consort 
Toyotama-hime, the daughter of the Sea god, Ugayafuki-aezu no 

' Marcel Granet, Danses et legendes de la Chine ancienne, I 354 sqq., 
cf. II, p. 655. 

2 Couvreur, Diet, de la langue chinoise, p. 417, s. v. 1^. 



The Hachiman shrine in Usa, Buzen province, 213 

Mikoto’s parents and jimmu Tenno’s grandparents. ' Hachiman 
was the tutelary god of the Seiwa-Genji, i. e. the Minamoto family. 

The Emperor Shomu, under whose reign a new Usa shrine 
was erected on Hishikata-yama (Jinki 4, A.D. 727), with the name 
of Hirohata (Broad banners) no Hachiman daijingU, was the first 
Emperor who paid much attention to this deity. In Tempyo 3 
(A.D. 731), at the request of Oga Ason Tamaro (a descendant 
of Oga Hige, li# ik by whose mouth the god had re- 
vealed his name), “ who had erected the new temple and had 
come to worship the Great Buddha of Todaiji, ShOmu Tenno 
sent official offerings (gohei) to Usa Hachiman, and in A.D. 740 
(Tempyo 12), on account of warlike operations, by Imperial pro- 
clamation he gave the sanctuary a fief of 20 houses and by means 
of official messengers (chokushi) presented sacred treasures (shimpo) 
to 4 . ^ 

In A.D. 741 (Tempyo 13, Interc. Ill 24) the Shoku Nihongi 
begins to take notice of the Hachiman-jingu in Usa, and relates 
how Shomu Tennb offered up to this god one “secret brocade 
cap” (^' ^$ ^)> one copy of the Saishookyo and of the Hok- 
kekyo, both written in golden characters, 18 converts (dos/zo, people 
who became Buddhist monks), and 5 horses; he further had a 
three-storied pagoda made in the compound of the temple, in 
order to give thanks for the fulfilment of prayers made in former 
lives {shukutd, ^ jjj^, ni sai sura, We learn from this 

' DaijU, III, p. 3849, 2, s. v. Hachimangu. Cf. Yoshida Togo, I, pp. 1409 sqq., 
s. V. Usa Hachimangu-, Kokushi daijitcn,' pp. 2015 sq., s. v. Hachiman no kami. 

^ According to the tradition Oga Hige lived in Bidatsu Tenno’s time 
(A. D. 572 — 585), but he must have lived much later. The god is said to 
Imve possessed him and to have said; “I am the Emperor Honda (i. e. 
Ojin Tenno), Hirohata no Hachlman-maro. My name is Gokoku reigeniriki 
jintsu daijizai-o Bosatsu, “The Bodhisattva Great Independent King of 
State-protecting, miraculous, majestic, divine power". This tradition must 
date from the 8th century, when he was declared to be a Bodhisattva. Konin 
TennS gave him this full title officially in A.D. 781. 

^ Yoshida Togo, I, p. 1410, 1, quoting the Todaiji yoroku. 

* Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xiv, p. 235. 



214 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


passage that already at that time the Hachiman shrine was con- 
nected with the Buddhist church. In A.D. 745 (IX 20), however, 
the same Emperor ordered the Governor of Satsuma to bring 
gohei to the Hachiman jinja, as one of the means of restoring 
his health ; then it was treated as a mere Shinto sanctuary. ' 
The next year (Tempyo 18, A.D. 746) he rewarded the god for 
having caused his recovery by elevating him to the third Court 
rank and by giving him a fief of 400 houses and 20 chd of low 
rice land. He further sent prayers to him concerning the erection 
of the Daihatsu of Todaiji and asked for gold for this purpose. 
The oracle answered: “The yellow gold shall come from this 
country itself; you must not send an ambassador to the Land of 
T'ang”. When afterwards Rikuoku province actually presented 
gold, the Emperor offered 120 ryo of that money to the Usa 
Hachiman shrine. - 

In A.D. 749 (Tempyo Shohb 1, XII 18) the Empress Kbken, 
who had ascended the throne on VII 2, sent ten officials of the 
fifth rank, 20 of divers ranks, and 20 toneri of each of the six 
efu (departments of the military men of guard at the gates of the 
Palace), “to welcome the god Hachiman in Heguri district, Yamato 
province”. On the same day he entered the Capital, and forth- 
with a new hall was built in the Nashiwara no miya, situated 
South of the Palace, and made his jingu. Forty Buddhist priests 
were invited and for seven days rites of repentance (kekwa) were 
performed. Nine days afterwards (XH 27) a Buddhist nun, negi 
(priestess) of the Great God (Hachiman), Oga no Ason Yashirome(?) 
(jfl± Shajo, “Temple Woman”), a relative of Oga no Tamaro, 
who in A.D. 731 had erected the new Usa shrine) went in a 
purple palanquin {koshi) to Todaiji. She represented the god, 
who was said to have possessed her on XI 19 and to have 


' Ibid., Ch. XVI, p. 261. 

^ Yoshida Togo, I, p. 1410, I, quoting the official documents of Konin 12 
(A. D. 821), cited in the Todaiji yoroka. Cf. Fuso ryakki, bassui, Shomu 
Tenno, Tempyo 21 (A.D. 749), see below Ch. xvi, § 3B. 



Usa Hachiman welcomed in Nara (A.D. 749). 215 

pronounced his wish to go to the capital in order to visit Todaiji 
and worship Lncana Buddha. On the first of the preceding month 
the Empress had bestowed the family name of Oga no Ason 
upon this priestess and Oga no Tamaro, who belonged to the 
secondary fifth and eighth ranks. ‘ According to the Genko 
Shakusho the official escort (a high councillor and 100 officers of 
the Imperial Guards), sent to welcome the god on his way to 
the capital, abstained from wine and meat, the roads were cleaned, 
and hojo, letting loose living beings, was performed in 
the provinces where the procession passed. 

On XII 27, when the god, represented by the nun, his priestess, 
went to Todaiji, he was accompanied by the Empress, the Dajo 
Tenno (Shomu Tennb, her father) and the Empress Dowager (her 
mother); thither came all the officials and gentry, and also 5000 
priests, invited for this occasion, worshipped the Buddha Locana 
(Vairocana’s Sambhoga-kayd) and read sutras. Chinese music 
and dances were performed in honour of the Great God, who 
received the first degree ( — ■ [5^), and of the female deity (his 
consort), Hime ( ) no kami, who obtained the second degree 

(and whose Shinto-Buddhist temple, jinga~ji, was built in A.D. 
767). ^ Thereupon by order of the Empress the Left Minister 
Tachibana no Sukune Moroe (the first of the Tachibana’s, who 
compiled the Manyoshu) spoke in praise of Hirohata no Yahata 
(Hachiman) no Oho-kami of Usa. In former years (Tempyo 12, 
A.D. 740) the Empress had worshipped Locana Buddha of Chi- 
shikiji (:^^^) in Kawachi province, and, wishing to make 
an image of that Buddha (i. e. to erect the Daibutsu of Todaiji), 
had been unable to do so. Then Hachiman of Usa had promised 
his divine assistance, proclaiming that he, leading the gods of 
Heaven and Earth, would complete the work, changing copper 
into hot water (i. e. melting copper) and mixing their own bodies 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvii, pp. 290 sq.; Genko SAa/rus/zo, Ch. xxii, p. 1022; 
Fusd ryakki, Koken Tenno, pp. 567 sq. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxviii, p. 483, A. D. 767 (jingo keiun 1, IX 18). 



216 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


with the plants and trees and earth, so that there should be no 
obstacle whatever. At the same time the nun, his priestess, was 
promoted to the secondary fourth Court rank and Oga no 

Ason Tamaro to the secondary fifth. Todaiji obtained a fief of 4000 
houses, further 100 converts (new monks) and 100 female slaves. 
To those who had been charged with the building of Todaiji 
various ranks were given according to their work. ' 

As to the tutelary shrine of Todaiji, dedicated to Usa Hachiman 
when he had entered the capital in A.D. 749, this is the so-called 
Tamuke-yama Hachimangu fBj jjj, Tamuke-yama, is a hill 
east of this shrine), situated at a distance of five cho from Todaiji, 
in an easterly direction. When in A.D. 1294 (Einin 2) the Todaiji 
priests had complaints against the Court, they brought the mikoshi 
or August palanquin of the god within the capital, and afterwards 
often made use of this powerful means to terrify the Court nobles. ^ 

In A.D. 750 (TempyO ShohO 2, II 29) the Empress Ksken gave 
a fief of 800 houses to Yahata no Ohokami {Hachiman), god of 
the first degree ( — ' ^) (i- e. she added 380 houses to the 420 
formerly given) and 80 cho of rice-fields (30 added to the 50 
given previously) ; Hime-gami, his consort, obtained a fief of 
600 houses and 60 cho of rice-fields, ® but afterwards, in conse- 
quence of the god’s command (uttered by means of possession), 
it was all returned to the Court, except the ordinary sacred rice- 
fields (of the Usa shrine). ^ In A.D. 764 (Tempyo Hoji 8, IX 29), 
after the suppression and death of Emi no Oshikatsu (Fujiwara 
no Nakamaro), who had tried to break the Hosso priest Dokyo’s 
power, the Empress again honoured the war-god by giving him 
a fief of 25 houses. “ This was, of course, her offering and not 
that of Junnin Tenno, whose favourite minister had been con- 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xviii, pp. 291 sq. 

® Yoshida TSgo, I, pp. 195 sq., s. v. Tamuke-yama Hachimangu. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XVIII, p. 293. 

* Yoshida TSgo, I, p. 1410, 1, s. v. Usa Hachimangu. 

s Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 428. 



Usa Hachiman saves the throne (A.D. 769). 217 

quered and killed and who through Dokyo's influence was him- 
self banished to Awaji a few days afterwards (X 9). 

In A.D. 769 (Jingo Keiun 3, IX 25) the Empress issued a long 
proclamation against the loyal and courageous Wake no Kiyomaro 
(A.D. 733 — 799) and his elder sister Hokin, accusing them of 
having deceived her by falsifying Hachiman’s oracle. In reality it 
was Dokyo who, assisted by Nakatomi no Asomaro, the kan- 
zukasa or head of the Shinto department of the Dazaifu, had 
tried to convince the Empress that she ought to abdicate in his 
favour by falsely stating that Hachiman had ordered his accession 
to the throne. The Empress, however, summoned Kiyomaro and 
told him that a messenger of Hachiman had appeared to her in 
a dream and had advised her to request him and his sister, the 
nun Hokin ' (A.D. 729 — 798), to go to Usa and listen 

to the god’s command. When they were about to go, DokyO 
promised a high official rank to Kiyomaro, if he would report 
Hachiman’s wish in favour of his, Dbkyo’s, accession to the throne. 
However, on arriving at the temple, Kiyomaro received the famous 
oracle denying the right of succession to the throne of a subject 
who did not belong to the Imperial House. When the faithful 
nobleman reported this to the Empress, Dokyo flew into a rage, 
deprived Kiyomaro of his official rank, expelled his sister from 
the religious order, and banished them to Osumi and Bingo. 
Although she issued the above proclamation as to Kiyomaro’s 
and Hokin’s deceit, the Empress followed the oracle transmitted 
by them and did not abdicate in Dokyo’s favour. When she died 
the next year (A.D. 770 VIII 4), her successor Konin Tennb 
immediately banished Dokyo to Shimotsuke, recalled Kiyomaro 
and his sister, and made him Right Minister. It is a remarkable 
sign of the influence of Buddhism, especially of the Hosso sect, 
that a priest could obtain such a powerfuT position and that his 
life was spared even after his fall. Also Hachiman’s power and 


' Washio, p. 1047, 2, s. v. Hokin ni. 



218 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the great value attached to his oracles are well illustrated by 
these historical facts. ‘ 

In A.D. 781 (Teno 1, before IV 1, when Konin Tenno abdicated) 
the Emperor Konin bestowed upon Hachiman the title of Gokoku 
reigen iriki jinzai Dai-Bosatsu ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

“The Great Bodhisattva of state-protecting, miraculous, 
majestic, divine power”, thus connecting him still closer with 
the Buddhist church. - 

In A.D. 823 (Konin 14), shortly before his abdication (IV 16), 
by official proclamation the Emperor Saga in consequence of an 
oracle of a god added the temple (jinja) of a third deity, the 
goddess Oho-tarashi Hime (declared to be the 

Empress Jingo, A.D. 170 — 269, Ojin Tenno’s mother) to those of 
Hachiman (Yawata) and Hime, and henceforward these gods were 
worshipped in Usa in three different shrines, although they 
belonged together. ^ 

After that the annals repeatedly mention the sending of Imperial 
messengers with gohei to the Hachiman Daibosafsu-gu, e. g. in 
A.D. 851 (Ninju 1, X 11, the Hachiman temple in /c77s/?n, Chikuzen 
province), in A.D. 857 (Tenan 1, X 29), and in A.D. 859 (jogwan 
1, II 30). ® 

Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, Seiwa Tenno’s grandfather and Regent 
(Sessho) (A.D. 804 — 872), was a faithful believer in Usa Hachi- 
man’s divine protecting power. This may be the reason why in 
A.D. 859 (Jogwan 1, VIII 8) an Imperial ordinance put on end 
to the custom by which all provinces used to send “Imperial 
falcons” as a tribute to the Emperor. ° This was, of course, a 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxx, pp. 510 sqq. 

^ Official documents of Konin 12, quoted by Yoshida Togo, I, p. 1410,2 
s. V. Usa Hachimangu. 

3 Usa takasenshu, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ , “Collection of Usa oracles”, 
quoted by Yoshida Togo, 1.1. 

■* Montoku Tenno jitsuroku, Ch. iii, p. 479; Ch. ix, p. 561. 

® Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. ii, p. 25. 

® Ibid., Ch. Ill, p. 41. 



The Usa Hachiman shrine (9th cent.). 


219 


measure against hunting, one of the forms of sessho or killing 
living beings, a crime detested by the god who through his 
oracle had ordered hojo-e in all provinces. In A.D. 863 (HI 15), 
when pestilence prevailed in the country and tendoku of the 
"king of sutras" (probably the Saishdokyd) was ordered to all 
provinces during the ango (Retreat), as well as the expounding 
of the same text, the ordinance of two years before was quoted 
and it was strictly forbidden to keep falcons and to kill living 
creatures by hunting. ‘ 

In A.D. 867 (Jogwaii 9, XII 19), at the beginning of the Butsu- 
myo sange (cf. below, Ch. VIII, § 19, B), the Hosso priest Kengo 
( W Todaiji, having painted 8 groups of 13000 Buddhist 

figures, to be used at this festival of Repentance, celebrated at 
the end of the year, requested the Emperor Seiwa to present 
one of them to the Hachiman shrine of Usa; the seven others 
were distributed among the provinces of the Hokurikuds. - 

In A.D. 875 (Jogwan 17, III 28) the Emperor Seiwa sent the 
high-priest Anshu (^^) to dedicate the Issaikyo (the whole 
canon, cf. below, Ch. XV, § 5) to the Maitreya shrine Mirokuji 
in Dazaifu, i. e. in Usa, erected there in A.D. 767 in the com- 
pound of the Hachiman temple. The late Dajo-daijin Yoshifusa 
had beforehand appointed the late Sanron priest Gyokyo 
3. Dentd-daihoshi (who in A.D. 859 had stayed in the Usa Hachi- 
man shrine for ninety days and after his return had built the 
Jwashimizu sanctuary), supervisor of the copying of the Issaikyo 
in honour of Hachiman Daibosatsu, which he had ordered to be 
done in Buzen province. This work having been completed, in 
A.D. 875 the dedicatory ceremony took place in Mirokuji. ^ 

In A.D. 877 (Genkei 1, 11 21) the Emperor Yozei announced 
his accession to the Throne to the Usa and Kashii shrines, with 
offerings of gohei, a sword and other objects. 

' Ibid., Ch. VII, p. 126. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XIV. p. 263. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XXVII, p. 411. 

Ibid., Ch. XXX, p. 449. 



220 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In A.D. 879 (Genkei 3, III 16), a few days before a severe 
earthquake and the death of Masako, Junna Tenno’s widow, two 
evil omens were observed. A vase, standing before Jingo Kwogo 
(Ohotarashi Hime), worshipped in a shrine east of the zenden 
of the Hachiman Daibosatsu temple in Usa, without any reason 
broke into 90 pieces, with a sound like the bleat of a calf; and 
in Higo province the door of an arsenal creaked by itself. ' 

In A.D. 884 (Genkei 8, IV 25), when the Emperor Kwoko had 
ascended the throne, this was announced to Hachiman Daibosatsu 
of Usa, with offerings of gohei, damask, brocade, and Chinese 
things. ^ 

In A.D. 890 (Kwampyo 2) Uda Tenno sent gohei to the Usa 
Hachimangu and to the Imperial ancestral shrine {byo, j^) of 
Kashii in Chikuzen province,® dedicated to Hachiman 

(Ojin Tenno)’s mother Oho-tarashi Hime {Jingo Kwogo). ^ 

In A.D. 897 (Kwampyo 9, VIII 22) the Emperor Daigo, whose 
father Uda TennO had abdicated the month before (VII 3), on 
account of his accession to the throne sent an official messenger 
to the three sanctuaries of Iwashimizu, Usa and Kashii. ® 

In A.D. 938 (Tenkei 1, X 9), when earthquakes terrified 
the country, the Emperor Suzaku sent gohei and prayers to the 
Usa Hachimangu, that the god might avert this calamity; at the 
same time he gave a title of nobility to the head of the great 
shrine at Kashii. ° 

In A.D. 942 (Tenkei 5, IV 27) the same Emperor by offering 
gohei to the Usa, Kashii and Iwashimizu shrines expressed his 


‘ Ibid., Ch, XXXV, p. 513. 

» Ibid., Ch. XLV, p. 629. 

^ Kashii was the place where ChUai Tenno, Jingo Kwdgo’s Consort, was 
said to have had his camp in his expedition against the Kumaso, and to 
have died in A. D. 200. 

Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xx, p. 754. 

® Ibid., Kohen, Ch. i, p. 772. 

® Ibid., Kohen, Ch. ii, p, 823. 



Hachiman shrines of Usa, Iwashimizu and Tsuru-ga-oka. 221 


thanks to those deities for their divine assistance in suppressing 
the rebels of East and West. ‘ 

In A.D. 966 (Koho 3, X 25) the Court nobles (kuge) offered 
up the Daihannyakyd to the Hachimanga. Sixty Buddhist priests 
were invited, and an Imperial messenger went to the temple. ^ 
It is not said whether it was the Usa shrine or that of Iwashimizu ; 
but afterwards the latter sanctuary was mentioned much more 
frequently especially in connection with the hojo-e of VIII 15 
(the middle of autumn). Gradually Hachiman shrines were erected 
in all parts of the country, and the places where they stood are 
still called by this deity’s name. 

In A.D. 1063 (Kohei 6, VIII) Minamoto no Yoriyoshi 
of the Uda-Genji, A.D. 995 — 1082), after having invited Hachiman 
of Iwashimizu, dedicated a temple to this tutelary god of his 
family at Yui-ga-hama, the sea-coast near Kamakura. In A.D. 1081 
(EihD 1, II) it was enlarged by his eldest son Yoshiie (A.D. 
1041 — 1108), called Hachiman Taro, because at the age of 7 
years he had performed the gembuku ceremony in the Iwashimizu 
temple. This was the Wakamiya Hachiman temple, removed 
in the jishd era (A.D. 1177 — 1181) by the great Yoritomo to 
Tsuru-ga-oka near Kamakura. There was a Buddhist altar, called 
za-samasazu no dansho (^ ^ ?^ PJf) in the south-eastern 
corner of the corridor, and day and night twelve Buddhist priests 
prayed incessantly to the honzon, a "mystic Buddhist image” 
{hibutsu) called Go (Mi) shotai (“The August Correct Body”), 
for peace and abundance of the country. The rites were called 
za-samasazu no gyoho, because “the seats did not become cool” 
on account of their uninterrupted use. In A.D. 1180 (Jisho4, X), 
in consequence of his vow, Yoritomo began this worship by 
offering up not only the so-called “three state-protecting wonderful 
books” (chingo kokka sambu myoten), namely the Hokke, Ninnb 
and Saishookyd, but also the Daihannya, the Kwanzeon, the Yakushi 


‘ Ibid., Kohen, Ch. ii, p. 830. 
2 Ibid., Kohen, Ch. iv, p. 911. 



222 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and the Jumyokyo. In A.D. 1181 (Juei 1,1V) ahojochi{j^ ^ '^) 
or “pond for liberating living beings” was made in 
the south-western corner of the compound of this shrine, called 
Keba-gawa. It was a large pond, with seven islands, on one of 
which was a „chapel of the heavenly women”, and beautiful 
bridges of stone and precious wood. In A.D. 1 187 (Bunji 3, VIII 15) 
the Tsuru-ga-oka hojo-e was held there for the first time. ' In 
A.D. 1191 (Kenkyu 2, III 4) the Wakamiya temple burnt down, 
but it was rebuilt the next month and at the same time a new 
sanctuary, the Kami no Miya or “Upper shrine”, i. e. the main 
temple, was erected. This is one of the three great Hachiman 
shrines of the country ; Usa, Iwashimizii and Tsuru-ga-oka Hachi- 
mangu, all three of which still exist in our days. ^ 


§ 5, B. Mirokuji, the Maitreya temple attached to the Usa 
Hachiman shrine, and further Buddhist conceptions with 
regard to this Shinto god. 

As to the Buddhist conceptions with regard to Hachi- 
man, we have seen above that in A.D. 741 (Tempyo 13, Interc. 
Ill 24) the Emperor Shomu was the first to offer up sutras, dosha 
and a pagoda to the Usa temple; the horses he added were a 
Shinto offering, like the gohei sent in A.D. 745. In A.D. 767 
(Jingo keiun 1, IX 18) his daughter, Shdtoku Tenno, began to 
erect the Hachiman Hime Jinguji ()jil}l ^ ^ Buddhist shrine 

dedicated to Hachiman’s consort, which had to be completed 
within four years. * It is evident that before that date Mirokuji, 
the Maitreya shrine in Usa Hachiman’s compound, erected in 
honour of Hachiman himself, already existed. As a matter of fact 
this temple was erected before A.D. 749 by Shomu Tenno, since 

‘ Azuma kagami, Ch. vii, p. 281. 

2 Yoshida Togo, II, pp. 2729 sq., s.v. Tsuru-ga-oka Hachimangu. 

3 Shoka Nihongi, Ch. xiv, p. 235; Ch. xxviii, p. 483. 



Maitfeya shrine of Usa Hachiman. 


223 


an official document of the Dajokwan of the sixth month of that 
year says that every year one of the kambe ( , administrative 

priests) of Hachiman in Buzen should become a Buddhist monk 
of Mirokuji. '■ Afterwards there were many houses of Buddhist 
priests in the vicinity of the Hachiman temple, and Rendaiji 
erected by Minamoto no Sukemichi (A.D. 995-1060) 
by order of the Emperor Go Reizei (A.D. 1046 — 1068) on one 
of the three peaks of Hishikata-yama in the neighbourhood of 
the Hachiman shrine, was also connected with it. As to Mirokuji, 
according to its engi, quoted by the Biizenshi, it dated from 
A.D. 725 (Jinki 2, I), when it was built (by order of Shomu 
Tenno) east of the Hachiman shrine on Hishikata-yama.^ 

As stated above, in A.D. 781 the Emperor KSnin bestowed 
upon the god the official title of “State protecting Great Bodhi- 
sattva’\ which the latter was said to have indicated himself in 
an oracle two centuries previously, although it was, of course, 
a much later idea, having arisen in the eighth century. 

.^n A.D. 814 (Kdnin 5, in the spring) SaichO (DengyO Daishi) 
went to the Usa Hachimangu and explained the HokkekyO, where- 
upon the god expressed in an oracle his great admiration for this 
doctrine and the Shinto officials and priests were deeply moved. ® 

Mirokuji is mentioned in an official document of the Dajokwan, 
issued in A.D. 830 (Tencho 7, VII) as “a temple erected by the 
Imperial Court”. It speaks of the “Hachiman betto Kwannonji 
koshi Kwofu” and the “Mirokuji koshi Kwo-e", thus connecting 
the two principal Buddhist temples of the Dazoifu (Tsukushi). ^ 
We saw above how the Issaikyd was copied and offered up to 
Mirokuji in honour of Hachiman in A.D. 875 (III 28). 

The Mai trey a cult was the predecessor of the Ami tab ha 
worship in China, Korea and Japan (cf. below, Ch. VIII, § 16, A). 

' Yoshida Togo, I, p. 1413, 3, s. v. Mirokuji. 

2 Ibid., I.I., 1.1., quoting the Buzenkokushi. 

® Genko Shakusho, Ch. i, Saicho, p. 645. 

■* Yoshida Togo, 1.1. 



224 


Ancient Buddhism in japan. 


These doctrines, both preaching salvation by tariki, “the power 
of another” (Maitreya or Amitabha), promised happiness in heaven 
(Maitreya’s or Amitabha’s paradise, Jodo, the Tusita heaven or 
SukhdvatT) to faithful believers in Miroku or Amida. It was during 
the seventh century that Amidism gradually superseded the Mai- 
treya doctrine in China; from there it spread to Korea, and, ‘in 
Japan it began to be practised throughout the country from the 
year A.D. 760. The Taema-dera, where in A.D. 763 the so-called 
Taema-mandara, representing Amitabha’s Paradise, was made, 
was a Maitreya temple (Zenrinji). It is clear that the similarity 
of the two cults was the reason why a Maitreya shrine was chosen 
for Amitabha’s worship. For the same reason the god Hachiman, 
first worshipped in a Maitreya temple, was afterwards declared 
to be a manifestation of Amitabha, and his trinity was identi- 
fied with the Amida sanzon (Amida, Kwannon and Seishi). Ojin 
TennO’s four children, Wakamiya (Nintoku Tennd) and Wakahime 
Ure and Kure worshipped 

in the so-called Wakamiya-shijosha ( in consequence 

of Usa Hachiman’s oracle, explained in a writing of jOgwan 18 
(A.D. 876), were venerated as suijaku (manifestations) 

of Juichimen Kwannon, Daiseishi, Monju and Fugen, the Eleven- 
faced Avalokitesvara, Mahasthanaprapta, ManjusrT and Samanta- 
bhadra. ^ The idea of the great Shinto gods {daimyojin) being 
suijaku of Buddha’s and Bodhisattvas (their honji, ^), i.e. 
“traces” of “original places” (manifestations), was based upon 
passages of the Lotus sutra (Nyorai juryobon, ^ ^ ^ (5^ , 

the “Long life of the Buddha”, Ch. XVI, in Kern’s translation 
Ch. XV) ^ and the Mahavairocana sutra {Dainichikyd, Taizokai 

' Daijii, III, p. 3849, 3, s. v. Hachimangu; Yoshida Togo, I, p. 1412, 1, 
3. V. Usa Hachimangu. 

2 Kern, Sacred books of the East, Vol. XXI, p. 301 : “the word that the 
Tathagata delivers on behalf of the education of creatures, either under 
his own appearance or under another’s, either on his own authority 
or under the mask of another (aparavaranend), all that the Tathagata 
declares .... is true”. 



Hachiman as Amida's suijaku. 


225 


shiju-mandara, Nanjo No. 530, translated in A.D. 724 by Subha- 
karasirnha). It was propagated in the beginning of the ninth 
century by Dengyo Daishi and Kobo Daishi, who thus promoted 
the spread of the Tendai and Shingon sects. The word suijaku 
is found in the preface of the Yuimakyd. ’ Hachiman and Ama- 
terasu were the first gods introduced in this way into the Buddhist 
pantheon as suijaku of Amitabha and Mahavairocana. Gradually 
Hachiman shrines were erected within the compounds of Todaiji, 
Daianji, Saidaiji, Yakushiji etc., where he was worshipped as 
their tutelary deity under the name of Hachiman Daibosatsu. In 
Todaiji he was represented as a Buddhist priest, seated cross- 
legged upon the lotus, v/ith a round halo behind his head and 
a khakkhara in his right hand. This is the shape of Jizo, the 
Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, whom the Japanese Shingon priests had 
made'' their war god as Shogun Jizo (a Varrior oh horseback) 
and whom they further identified with Hachiman. Thus the 
Saezurigusa (written in A.D. 1859) says that images of JizD, 
with the khakkhara in his hand, were worshipped in Hachiman 
temples in Yedo (Ichigaya, and Ana Hachiman) as shintai or 
“god-bodies” of this deity; and also Toji, the Shingon sanctuary 
in Kyoto, possessed such an idol. * Jizo was as Indo Jizo the 
guide to Amida’s paradise and he belonged to this Buddha’s 
retinue of 25 Bodhisattvas. In this way Amida’s suijaku could 
be represented, as a Bodhisattva, in Jizo’s shape. 

In the Butsuzo zu'i Hachiman is called Ojin Tenno’s spirit 
(tamashii), with Amida as honji (111, p. 2b, seated, in his imperial 
shape, with bow and arrows, Hachiman Daimyojin, among the 
“mystic Buddhas, hibutsu, of the 30 days” (of the month) 
(= "h H jjijit^) the protector of the eleventh day). The 
Buddhist priest, called Shoshinshi Gongen (i^^ 

‘ Daijiten, p. 1007, 2, s. v. suijaku; Daijii, III, p. 4210, s. v. honji suijaku. 

2 Daijii, 111, p. 3849, 3, s. v. Hachimangu; Daijiten, Fig. 93. 

Cf. the present writer’s treatise on “The Bodhisattva Ti-fsang (Jizo) in 
China and Japan", Ch. ii, § 6 (Shogun Jizo), p. 105. 


15 



226 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


“Manifestation of Shoshinshi, the Holy True child”, the protector 
of the 19 th day of the month, whose honji is Amido, is also 
called Hachiman Daibosatsu (III, p. 4a). This is the third of the 
Sanno shichisha Gongen ( Ih I -t |i « il). the “Manifesta- 
tions of the Seven Shinto shrines of the Mountain Kings”, the 
seven protectors of the Tendai sect. ‘ As such we find this deity, 
which the Daijiten calls Shoshinji, represented as a Buddhist 
priest, seated, with a khakkhara in his right hand (resembling 
Jizd), on p. 6n of the Butsuzo zui (Vol. HI). There he is said 
to be Hachiman Daibosatsu, who in the first year of Mommu 
Tenno’s reign (A.D. 697) manifested himself in Shiga district, 
Omi province, and whose honji is Amitabha. 

The name of the god Hachiman, “Eight banners”, is explained 
on p. 8a of the same volume, where he is represented as Honda 
Hachiman, i. e, as Ojin Tenno, standing, with a bow in his left 
hand. There we read that at his birth eight banners, four white 
and four red, descended from heaven. As to Buddhist expla- 
nations, according to the Genko Shakusho the name Hachiman 
Daibosatsu was due to the fact that he, as a manifestation of 
the Eightfold Path of the Ary as {hasshodd, /\ TF 

also called the “Eight correct Gates”, hasshomon, IE , 
sc. to Nirvana, correct views, thoughts, speech, deeds, life, 
exertion, recollection and meditation)^ was able to liberate the 
living beings from misery. The god himself explained this in a 
dream to the priest Kaijo ( ^) (A.D. 724 — 781), who then 
built Mirokaji in Settsu province, in order to worship the ara- 
gami iliijJ) (once more a connection between the Maitreya 

and Hachiman cults!). The Emperor presented several hundreds 
of acres of rice-land to this temple. ® The Shingon sect, identifying 
Hachiman with Amitabha, made eight flags of different colours 

‘ Daijiten, p. 671, 1 , s. v. Sanno. 

2 Kern, Manual, p. 23; Eitel, Sanskr .-Chin. Diet., s. v. marga. 

^ Genko Shakusho, Ch. xv, life of Kaijo, pp. 892 sqq.; Washio, p. 128, 
1, s. v. Kaijo. 



Eight flags as Amida's sammaya-gyo. 227 

the sammaya-gyo i- e. the samaya shape, of 

this Buddha. These shapes are the symbols of the original mystic 
vows of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas ; in this way a sword 
represents Fudo Mydd’s vow, a lotus flower that of Kwannon, 
a precious pearl that of Hosho Nyorai {Ratnasatnhhavd) and a 
medicine pot that of Yakushi Nyorai', ' thus the eight flags or 
banners are symbols of Amida’s vow to liberate the living beings 
by means of the Eightfold Path. They are described as long 
banners, set upright in the eight quarters, at short distances 
apart, according to the Law. They have eight different colours, 
viz. white (East), vermilion (^) (S. E.), black (South), smoke 
colour (brown) (S. \V.), purplish light red (^) (West), blue 
(N, W.), yellow (North), red and white (N. E.). - 

§ 5, C. The Hachiman shrine of Iwashimizu on Otoko-yama, 
south of Kyoto (founded A.D. 859). 

The Emperor Seiwa's name is closely connected with that of 
the Hachiman shrine of Iwashimizu, because it was founded 
under his reign, and the Seiwa-Genjc, i. e. the Minamoto’s, des- 
cendants of his son Sadazumi-shinno, worshipped this god as 
their tutelary deity. But Seiwa Tenno, the first child-emperor of 
Japanese history, Montoku Tennd’s son, was only nine years old 
when he ascended the throne after his father’s death (in A.D. 858, 
VIII 27). He abdicated in A.D. 876 (XI 29), and his reign, the Jogwan 
(or Jokwati) era (A.D. 859 — 876), forms the beginning of the power 
of the Fujiwara family, because his maternal grandfather, Fuiiwara no 

' Daijiten, p. 663, 2, s. v. sammaya-gyo; Himitsu jirin, p. 430, 2. s. v. 
sammaya-gyo. 

2 Kuke-kyo {Gukya, i. e. Secret, sUtra, ^ ), quoted by the 

Daijiten, p. 1419, 1, s. v. Hachiman Daibosatsa; Kuji kongeni^ ^ ^ ), 

written A.D. 1422 (Oei 29), Nihon bungaku zensho, Vol. XXII, p. 87, s. v. 
Iwashimizu no hojo-e (VIII 15). 



228 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Yoshifusa, first reigned for him as Sessho (Regent), and then (from 
864) as Kwampaku (Prime Minister), and in A.D. 868 gave him his 
daughter (the Emperor’s aunt) in marriage. Thus 'we see that the 
erection of the Iwashimizu shrine was an act of this mighty 
Fujiwara, who, as we saw above, was a devout worshipper of 
Usa Hachiman. 

In A.D. 859 (jogwan 1) or, according to the Sandai jitsurokii,' 
in A.D. 860, the Sam on priest Gyokyo (f^ ^) of Daianji, who 
had studied the Shingon doctrine as well as that of the Sanron 
school, and who had reached the rank of Dento daihoshi, went 
to the Usa Hachiman shrine and remained there the whole summer 
(90 days) (probably in connection with the Summer Retreat, ango). 
He belonged to the old and famous house of Ki (:^). When 
performing tendoku of the Mahayana srdras he received a divine 
revelation from the god, stating that he, grateful for the ' recon- 
struction and repair of his temple (executed the same year by 
order of the Emperor by Tachibana no Yoshimoto) would remove 
his residence to the neighbourhood of the capital 
and protect the State. And in the night of his return to 
Kyoto the god indicated fwashirnizu on Otoko-yaina as the place 
where his temple should be erected; then a bright light like that 
of the moon and the stars shone in the south-eastern region of 
Yamashiro province. More and more revering the blessing power 
of the god, Gyokyo prayed to him for three days and nights. 
Then he fixed the place where the temple should be built, and 
made a temporary grass-hut to live in himself. When he reported 
these facts to the Emperor, his Majesty, the Empress, and the 
Court nobles, on account of a similar dream also began to worship 
Hachiman. Afterwards the images of Amida, Kwannon and Seishi 
{Amida sanzon) were placed in this temple, because they were 
said to have appeared to Gyokyo when he prayed that he might 
behold the god’s holy shape. The date that he built the shrine 
on Otoko-yama is given by Washio as A.D. 859, IX 19, and this 

' Sandai jitsur Oku, Ch. xxix, p. 434 (A.D. 876, Jogwan 18, VIII 13). 



hvashimizu Hachiman Daibosatsu. 


229 


author adds that afterwards the Court on behalf of the peace of 
the state charged Gyokyo with the superintendence of the copying 
and sacrifice of the Issaikyd to Usa Hachiman. * As we saw 
above, this work was ordered by the Dajo-daijin Fujiwara no 
Yoshifusa and completed in A.D. 875, when the dedicatory cere- 
mony took place in Mirokuji, the Buddhist Hachiman shrine 
of Usa. 

In A.D. 861 (Jogwan 3, I 21) Seiwa Tenno ordered a musha- 
daie or “Great Unlimited Meeting” to be held on III 14 in Todaiji, 
and kindan sessho (forbidding the taking of life) to be practised 
in all provinces from III 1 1 to 20. On the day of the meeting 
sai-e had to be held in alt kokubiinji and kokiibun-niji, and all 
the monks and nuns of the vicinity should be invited and enter- 
tained; the expenses were to be defrayed from the regular taxes. 
In Dqzaifu it had to be performed in Kwannonji and regulated 
by the doshi. It was a festival in worship of Mahdvaitocana of 
Todaiji, whose name was to be praised by all the monks and 
nuns and to whom offerings had to be made with great devotion. 
At the same time Hachiman Daibosatsu was mentioned as the 
chief of the gods of the empire, who was especially made to 
obtain salvation (gedatsu), whereas the other famous gods received 
divine power and independence {jinriki jizai). - In the same year 
(V 15), when Imperial messengers brought gohei to the seven 
famous Shinto shrines near the Capital in order to pray for 
rain, in the Emperor’s proclamation Hachiman Daibosatsu’s 
name was invoked as a special giver of fertilizing rain.* 

In A.D. 865 (Jogwan 7, IV 17) the same Emperor sent a 
descendant of Wake no Kiyomaro, Tsunenori, to the “ Iwashimizu 
Hachiman Daibosatsu-ga” , with a shield, a spear, and an Imperial 
saddle (evidently to serve as shintai to the war-god; a curious 

' Yoshida T5go, I, p. 175, s. v, Iwashimizu Hachiman-gU; Washio, p. 205, 
2, s. v. Gyokyo; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiv, p. 1052 (A.D. 859, X). 

2 Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. v, p. 77. 

3 Ibid., Ch. V, p. 87. 



230 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


mixture of Shintoism and Buddhism!) and a written document 
in which he prayed for the protection of the state. ’ 

In A.D. 876 (Jogwan 18, V 28), six months before his abdi- 
cation, Seiwa Tenno ordered Yamashiro province henceforth to 
give a yearly supply of 32 kokii of rice to the “state-protecting 
Buddhist temple of the Iwashimizu Hachimangu” . In the same 
year (VIII 13) this temple issued a memorial to the Throne, 
stating that on behalf of the nation, in Jogwan 2 (A.D. 860) the 
late Daihoshi Qyokyo had invited the Daibosatsu and removed 
his residence to this place. If His Majesty granted the appoint- 
ment of a perpetual kannushi ( llilfJ "4^ ) (the keeper of a Shinto 
shrine) to the Usa shrine, Ki Ason Mitoyo (who belonged to the 
same family as Gyokyo) was proposed for this office; the petition 
was granted and the designation made by Imperial Ordinance. “ 

In A.D. 877 (Genkei 1, IV 9), when the construction of the 
Daigokuden of the Palace was commenced, and an official cere- 
mony took place (it was burnt down the previous year, IV 10, 
the fact being announced to the Emperor Kwammu’s Mausoleum 
in Kashiwabara, Yamashiro province, because the latter had built 
.the Palace in A.D. 794), gohei were sent to the Ise DaijingU, 
the Iwashimizu shrine, and to five other Shinto sanctuaries (e. g. 
Kamo, Matsu-no-o, Hirano and Inari). * Thus the Iwashimizu 
temple had already obtained its prominent position among the 
great Shinto shrines of the country, being enumerated immediately 
after that of Ise. 

In A.D. 886 (Ninna 2, V 26) the Iwashimizu temple emitted a 
sound like the beating of a drum, and its southern pavilion 
resounded like the roaring of storm and waves; this went on 
for several hours. The diviners of the Jingikwan said: “There 
is some wish in the Dai Bosatsu’s heart”. According to the 

‘ Ibid., Ch. X, pp. 179 sq. 

^ Ibid., Ch. xxviii, p. 429. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XXJX, p. 434. 

■* Ibid., Ch. XXXI, p. 459. 



Iwashimizu Hachiman Daibosatsu. 


231 


divination of the Onyoryo it was considered to be a foreboding 
of war. ' 

The next year (IV 7), four months before his death, the Emperor 
Koko honoured this Temple by a special offering of gohei. ^ Its 
hdjo-e, however, were not yet mentioned in this century, although 
the Daijii, without referring explicitly, says that Seiwa Tenno 
was the first to hold such a meeting in A.D. 863 (Jogwan 5, 
VIII 15). “ We should be inclined to doubt the correctness of 
this statement because the annals do not refer to this festival 
earlier than A.D. 939; but in that passage it is said to have 
been performed regularly already many years before. 


§ 5, D. The hojo-e of Iwashimizu (VIII 15) 

(A.D. 863 (?)— 1479; 1679—1868). 

In A.D. 939 (Tenkei 2, VIll 12) the hojo-e of the main shrine 
(hongu) of Iwashimizu, celebrated yearly on VIII 15, is mentioned 
for the first time by the Fuso ryakki. For years it had always 
been held on VlII 15, and all the people, high and low, had 
attended it. Now a Buddhist nun had made an image of Iwa- 
shimizu Hachiman Daibosatsu and placed it in a little shrine. 
As it proved to have much r eigen (supernatural power), monks 
and nuns, people of high and low standing, men and women, 
a host of worshippers, from far and near flocked to this new 
Hachiman shrine. Then the nun arranged a hojo-e on the same 
day as that of the main shrine, viz. Vlll 15, with beautiful music 
in the day-time and famous priests explaining the great Bodhi- 
sattva commandments at night, and with plenty of excellent food 
and drink and offerings. For this reason the monks and musicians 
despised the main shrine, and its festival grew to be quite deserted. 

‘ Ibid., Ch. XLIX, p. 687. 

2 Ibid., Ch. L, p. 711. 

2 Daijii, III, p. 4124, 1, s.v. hojo-e; Daijiten, p. 1388, 3. s. v. hoJo-e. 



232 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Thereupon the monks and laymen of the main sanctuary (the 
great Iwashimizu temple), after having discussed the matter, 
requested the nun to change the date of the meeting of the new 
shrine, but she refused and continued to celebrate it yearly on 
VIII 15. Now, in A.D. 939, three days before the festival, the 
monks and laymen of the main shrine, several thousands 
of people, went to the new temple, destroyed it, bound the nun, 
and brought the image to the great Iwashimizu sanctuary; then 
they seized the nun and led her away. ' 

If we may believe this story the hdjo-e of Iwashimizu were 
held many years before A.D. 939, which agrees with the statement 
of the Daijii and Daijiten, referred to above (A.D. 863). 

In A.D. 948 (Tenryaku 2, X 14) the Emperor Murakami sent 
a messenger to the Iwashimizu shrine, in order to pray to the 
god and announce the performance of the hojO-e, to be held the 
next day, because it had not taken place on its usual day (VIII 15) 
owing to a controversy between the kengyO and the betto, the 
supervisor and chief commissioner. Thereupon it was held on X 15. " 

In A.D. 974 (Tenen 2, VIII 11) the Chunagon Minamoto no 
Nobumitsu (7]^ (A.D. 927 — 976) addressed the Emperor 

Enyti as follows. “The hojo-e of the 15th inst. in the Iwashimizu 
Hachimangu should be put on a level with all the sechi-e 
(^P (i- €. the fixed ceremonial days of the Court, on which 

the Emperor went out to take part of the ceremony and gave a 
banquet, e. g. on Newyear’s day), and orders to this effect should 
be given to the Gagakuryo (^"^ |^ ^) (Bureau of Music). The 
officials of music are to lead the Chinese and Korean musicians 
and dancers (from Korai). Henceforth this should always be given 
as an offering at that festival. The Left and Right Cavalry Corps 
have to send ten rows of ten horses each. After this year this 
must be presented (litt. offered up) in alternate years. The Left 
and Right Body Guards are each to be ordered to give an escort 

‘ Faso ryakki, Ch. xxv, Suzaku Tenno, Tenkei era, pp. 700 sq. 

* Nihon kiryaku, KShen, Ch, iii, p. 855. 



Hojo-e of Iwashimizu Hachiman. 


233 


of ten horsemen, also in alternate years”. The next day His 
Majesty honoured tlie Minamoto House by presenting a fief of 
300 houses to Minamoto no Takaaki Ason (A.D. 914 — 982), 
whom he had recalled from Tsukushi; and on the 15th he sent 
gohei to Iwashimizu by means of the General of the Left Body 
Guards Minamoto no Masasuke. ' In A.D. 1046 (EishO 1) Mina- 
moto no Yorinobu, of the Seiwa Genji branch, wrote about the 
Gongen {Avatara, Manifestation), i.e. Ojin Tenno, worshipped as 
Iwashimizu Hachiman, terming him his ancestor and therefore 
the tutelary deity of his family. - 

In A.D. 1070 (Enkyu 2, VIII 14) the Emperor Go Sanjo sent 
Minamoto no Takakuni, Minamoto no Tsunenobu, Fujiwara no 
Takakata and other officials to the hvashimizu-gu, in order to 
hold the hojo-e •, at the same time he fixed this as a constant 
rule,, and sent the general of the Right Body Guards Fujiwara 
no Moroyuki with many officials to act as dancers and followers. ® 
According to the Kuji kongen these officials were sent to make 
offerings, and the escort of the procession of the mikosin or 
sacred palanquins was equal to that of an Emperor’s cortfege. 
In the early morning, when the mikoshi descended the I-no-hana 
hill, the music of this Imperial procession “caused the clouds to 
stop”, and the magnificent dresses and caps “glittered in the 
sun”. In the evening, when the officials returned, 6ga hoshi (the 
abbot of the Temple), leaning on a white staff, accompanied them 
unto the plain. Jdtd-mon-in (Fujiwara no Akiko, Ichijo TennS’s 
consort, who lived A.D. 988 — 1074) had previously presented 
three mikoshi for this festival and made this a constant rule. 
With regard to Imperial visits to the temple, in A.D. 979 (Tengen 2, 
III 27) Enyu Tenno went there for the first time, but then there 

> L.I., Ch. VI, p. 946. 

2 Yoshida TSgo, I, p. 175, 3, s. v. Iwashimizu Hachimangu. 

^ Fuso ryakki, Ch. xxix, p. 817. 

* Kuji kongen, p. 88 (VIII 15, s. v. Iwashimizu no hojo-e). 

® Yoshida TSgo, 1. 1., referring to the Honchd seki. 



234 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


was only a feast of dancers and singers. ‘ Sometimes we read 
about a rinjisai, a “special festival” of Iwashimizu, celebrated in 
the third month, as e. g. in A.D. 1068 (Chiryaku 4, III 22); - the 
next year, again in the third month (III 15), the Emperor visited 
the shrine. “ 

The date of the hojo-e, VIII 15, exactly the middle of autumn, 
points to its being an autumnal festival, celebrated for the 
welfare of the state, in the same way as the Gosaie was per- 
formed in the beginning of the year. In the course of years its 
importance grew more and more. The Honcho seki mentions it 
in A.D. 1087 (Kwanji 1), 1099 (Kowa 1), 1103 (Kowa 5), 1142 
(Koji 1), 1143 etc., with the high officials sent as leaders; hence- 
forth it belonged to the festivals regularly noticed by the annalists. ^ 
The Azuma kagami (from A.D. 1180, Jisho 4, to A.D. 1266, 
Bunei 3), which gives the events of Kamakura, from A.D. .1187 
(Bunji 3) yearly mentions the hojo-e of the Hachiman shrine at 
Tsuru-ga-oka, ’ where, as stated above, six years previously a 
“pond for liberating living beings” had been made. This Tsuru- 
ga-oka hojo-e was, of course, held on the same day as that of 
Iwashimizu (VIII 15), because the temple was dedicated to Iwashi- 
mizu Hachiman, invited in A.D. 1063 to Yui-ga-hama, in the 
neighbourhood of Kamakura, by Minamoto no Yoriyoshi, and 
transferred in the Jisho era (A.D. 1177 — 1181) to Tsuru-ga-oka 
by Yoritomo. The festival was attended by the Shogun and 
his House. 

The Zoku-Shigusho “ (A.D. 1259 XI, Shogen 1— A.D. 1779 XII, 

‘ Nihon Kiryaku, Kohen, Ch. vii, p. 966. 

Honcho seki, Chiryaku 4, III, p. 302. Also the rinjisai of A. D. 1345 took 
place in the third month. 

3 Fuso ryakki, Ch. xxix, p. 814. After A. D. 1076 (Shoho 3) this became 
a fixed ceremony. 

* Honcho seki, pp. 317, 348, 377, 427, 480 etc. 

® Azuma kagami, “Mirror of the Eastern provinces” written 

shortly after A.D. 1266; Zaku Kokushi taikei, Vol. IV, p. 281. 

® Zoku Shigusho, Zoku Kokushi taikei, Vol. 1 — 111. 



Hojo-e of Iwashimizu Hachiman. 


235 


Anei 8) rarely forgets to mention the Iwashimizu hojo-e of VIII 15 
and the leading officials who proceeded to the performance. In 
the dangerous days of the Mongol invasions (A.D. 1274 and 1281, 
Bunei 1 1 and Koan 4) the Emperors Go Uda and Kameyama 
(the latter during a whole night, in 1281, VI 21) ' prayed in this 
temple that the god might save the country and repel the bar- 
barians. As to the hojo-e, this was held yearly until the Onin war 
(A.D. 1467 — 1477), which was destructive for so many ancient 
ceremonies. Before that, e. g. in A.D. 1443, 1448 — 1454, 1456 etc., 
it was often postponed for various reasons, but used then to 
take place somewhat later. In A.D. 1445 the ceremony of returning 
from the festival was postponed to the next day on account 
of some complaint of the head of the temple. - In Bummei 11 
(A.D. 1479) and following years the annalist remarks that no 
mentipn was made of the Iwashimizu hojo-e, ^ and so it was 
omitted for a very long time. In A.D. 1679 (EmpD 7, VIII 15), 
however, it suddenly reappears, the high officials going to the 
temple as in former days. * 

In A.D. 1708 (Hoei 5, Vlll 15) the famous Confucianist author 
Dazaijun ( ^ ^ , i. e. Dazai Shuntai, ^ ^ , A.D. 1680-1747) 

visited the Hojo-e of Iwashimizu and wrote a description, entitled 
Kwan-hojoe-ki ( There he describes how a 

large number of Buddhist priests performed the segaki (|^ ^ ) 

ceremony (giving food to the pretas, cf. above, Ch. IV, § 5, pp. 76 sqq., 
but this used to be done on the principal day of the festival of the 
dead, VII 15). Then fishes and birds, brought from all parts, 
were set free in the direction of the mountains and into the 
river, first on behalf of the Emperor, then on behalf of the 
Shogun and his House. Prayers were recited for a long and 
peaceful reign, and thereupon all the birds and fishes were 

* Zoku Shigusho, Vol. I, Ch. V, p. 146. 

2 Ibid., Ch. xxxvii, p. 269. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XL, pp. 389, 392, 396, 400 etc. 

* Ibid., Ch. LXII, p. 179. 



236 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


liberated and allowed to live in safety in the neighbouring wood 
and pools, because no killing of living beings was allowed in 
this sacred domain. ' 

In A.D. 1868 (Meiji 1, VII 19), finally, the name of this festival 
(which was also designated as the “Southern festival”, Minami- 
matsuri, that of Kamo being the “Northern festival”, Kita-matsuri) 
was changed into Chushusaiy 4* ^ ^ ’ “Festival of the middle 
of autumn”, and after a long history of fen centuries lost its 
Buddhist character. ^ 

' Daijii, I, p. 238, 3, s. v. Iwashimizu hojo-e. 

= Daijii, 1. 1. 



CHAPTER VII. 

THE LIGHTING OF MI-AKASHI ( OR “AUGUST 
LIGHTS”, IN LATER TIMES CALLED MANDO-E (;^{|^i§-), 
“FESTIVALS OF TEN THOUSAND LANTERNS” OR SENTO-E 
(CHITO-E) “FESTIVALS OF A 

THOUSAND LANTERNS”. 

§ 1. The Mi-akashi in the Palace on the last day of the year 

(A.D. 651 and 652). 

The terms Mandoe and Sen (or Chi) toe were not yet used in 
the seventh century, but the Mi-akashi ( *1^ , nento) or “August 
Lights”, i. e. the offering of a great number of lanterns to the 
Buddha on the last day of the year, are mentioned in the Nihongi. 

In A.D. 651 (Hakuchi 2), the seventh year of the Emperor 
Kotoku's reign, on the thirtieth day of the twelfth month “more 
than 2100 priests and nuns were invited to the Palace of Ajifu, 
and made to read the Issaikyo (the whole existing canon, cf. 
above, Ch. 1, § 4p. 8). That night over 2700 lights were 
lit in the courtyard of the Palace, and the Antaku and 
Dosokit silt r as were caused to be 

read. Upon this, the Emperor removed his residence from Oho- 
gohori to the new Palace. It received the name of the Palace of 
Naniwa no Nagara no Toyosaki”. ‘ 

The next year (A.D. 652), again on the last day of the year 
(the character ^ must be read “the priests and nuns of 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 452; Aston II, p. 240: ^ Au 



238 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the Empire were invited to the interior of the Palace (completed 
in the ninth month) and entertained with meagre fare. With 
great liberality upeksa, indifference; the kana 

reading gives kakite, “having spent”) lights were kindled. ' 

§ 2. Lanterns offered and repentance made in the Temple 
of Kawara in A.D. 686, on account of the Emperor 
Temmu's illness. 

In A.D. 686 (VI 19), when the Emperor Temmu was seriously 
ill (he died three months later, IX 9) “public functionaries were 
sent to the Temple of Kawara to light lanterns and offer 
them up (to the Buddha or the Triratna). So there was a cere- 
mony of repentance for sin, consisting of a great 
vegetarian (purificatory) feast” (^ ^ W W 

;il « # . ® «, ® ® 2 'I# iHfc .)•■ 

The term nenW kuyo is translated by Aston as two different 
actions; the kindling of lights and the offering of food, Kuyo, 
however, is used to designate the five or six kinds of sacrifice, 
not only that of food; and lanterns belong to those offerings. 
Therefore I consider the four characters to form one expression. 

As to the words daisai no kekwa, these may mean a great 
purificatory rite of repentance, but daisai is the term for a great 
vegetarian entertainment of monks. Again Aston translates them 
as two different actions, although they are connected by the 
character . The character sai is also used to designate upo- 
satha, translated by purification, namely from sins by means 
of repentance and by fasting in the afternoon. 

The words nento kuyd are used in the same way in the Baddha- 
bhashita Ajatasatru-raja-vyakarana-sutra (WKPf Mttti 

■ Nihongi, Ch. XXV, p. 453; Aston II, p. 242: -j-* Hi ^ ^ 

* Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 542; Aston H, p. 377. 



Lanterns offered in A.D. 686. 


239 


^ (1^) (Nanjo No. 272, translated under the Western 

Tsin dynasty, A.D. 265 — 316, by the priest Fah-kii, 

App. II 30), where the offering of lamps is mentioned as a meri- 
torious work, and the “ten thousand lamps offered by the rich 
man” (the sresthin, choja, a prominent layman) are com- 

pared to the single lamp sacrificed by the poor. * 

As to Japan, we learn from the above passages that lights 
were offered up to the Buddha (or the Triratna) in. order to 
consecrate a new Palace or to cause the Emperor’s recovery from 
severe illness. In both cases evil influences had to be removed, 
and the darkness, produced by the demons of calamity and disease, 
had to be driven away by the splendour of light. Moreover, the 
date of the two palace festivals, the last day of the year, 
was evidently chosen on purpose, for at the same time the 
sins of the old year had to be expiated, not only by 
repentance and offerings of food (the vegetarian entertainment) 
to the priests, but also by offerings of light to the Buddha. In 
this way the Tathagata’s all-pervading light was sure to expel 
all dark influences which in the coming year might menace the 
Emperor and his surroundings as well as the whole country. 

§ 3. Ten thousand, 15700, twenty thousand lamps offered 
to the Buddha Vairocana of Todaiji (A.D. 744, 746, 752). 

Rites of Repentance. 

According to the Biikkyo daijifen (p. 1672, 1), the Bukkyo 
daijii (III, p. 4274, 1) and the Kokushi daijiten (p. 2211, 3) the 
Bodhisattva-pitaka-sutra Bosatsuzo kyo, Nanje 

No. 1103, translated A.D. 506 — 520 by Sahghapala or Sahghavarman 
(App. II 102), contains the following words: “By lighting ten 
thousand lamps repentance is made for many sins” 

‘ Cf. Kokushi daijiten, p. 2211, s. v. Mando-e-, Daijii, III, p. 4274, 1, s. v. 
Mandd-e. The term nentd kuyd is also found in the Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvi, 
p. 268; Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. x, p. 285. 



240 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


which sentence should be the 
base of this ceremony. It is, however, a curious fact that the 
sutra does not contain this idea in the form quoted by those 
dictionaries, although the meaning is the same. Probably another 
author, referring to the sutra, has used the very words, cited by 
the dictionaries, thus giving the meaning instead of the real 
wording of the text. In the sutra the Buddha, in answer to 
Sariputra’s question concerning the way of extinguishing evil 
deeds by means of repentance {sange, “asking forgiveness”, 

ksamayati, and repentance, cf. below, Ch. VIII, § 1), says: “Those 
who wish to learn the sarnyaksambodhi, either as followers of 
the Sravaka-ydna, or of the Pratyeka-yana or of the Mahdyana, 
or the other living beings, must recite the names of ten 
Buddhas of fen worlds of the ten quarters, and light 
ten thousand lamps, either with fat (litt. butter) or oil-in- 
cense and rubbed incense. Also according to the number of 
lamps they must make a great offering, a great distribution {doi 
kuyo, dai fuse) of all kinds of flowers, fruits and leaves”. 

In Tempyb 16, i. e. A.D. 744 (XII 4) the Emperor Shomu ordered 
that “Repentance (in worship) of (the Buddha) Yakushi (Bhaisha- 
jyaguru)”, Yakushi kekwa, should be practised 

in all provinces, and on the eighth day of the same month a 
hundred men were converted to religious life; that night ten 
thousand lamps were lighted in the Konshoji (^ 
^ (a Kegon shrine belonging to Todaiji and inhabited by 
Ryoben, ^ the Konsho gyoja, ^ ^ ^ who in A.D. 
728 erected Todaiji) ‘ and on the Suzaku Road” 

« SS « « — 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 499, 2, s. v. Konsho gyoja -, Yoshida Togo, I, p. 194, s.v. 
Sangwatsudo. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xv, p. 255; Nihon kiryakii, Zempen, Ch. x, K.T.K. 
V, p. 283. The text of the Shoku Nihongi gives the character sho, 

instead of sho, in the name of the temple. 



Ten thousand lamps offered. 


241 


This is the first time such an offering of “ten thousand lamps” 
is mentioned in Japan. Again it took place in the last month of 
the year, in connection with the rite of repentance. 

Two years later (Tempyo 18, A.D. 746, X 6) the same Emperor, 
accompanied by the former Empress Gensho (who had abdicated 
in A.D. 724) and the Empress, went to the same sanctuary 
(Konshoji) and performed a nento kiiyo -j^ in honour 

of Vairocana Buddha (the Daibutsu of Todaiji was not completed 
before A.D. 752). Till the first watch of the night (7 — 9 P.M.) 
before and behind the Buddha more than 15700 lamps were 
lighted. By the Emperor’s order several thousands of priests raised 
fat-candles on high, praised the Buddha (sandan kuyo) and made 
three circuits (to the right, u-nyo, pradaksina circum- 

ambulations). This lasted till the third night watch (11 — 1 A.M.); 
then their Majesties returned to the Palace. ' 

In Tempyd ShohO 6 (A.D. 754, 1 5) the Empress Koken went 
to Todaiji and had 20000 lamps lighted in worship of Vairocana. - 
It is, however, not known when the Mando-e of Tddaiji became 
a regular yearly festival. “ 


§ 4. The Festival of Ten thousand Lamps and Flowers, 
offered as a thanksgiving for the “Four Favours” (Shi-on 
no Mando Manke no e) in Kongobiiji on Koya-san, 
celebrated by Kobo Daishi (A.D. 832). 

In A.D. 832 (Tencho 9), in the eleventh month, Kobo Daishi 
went to Koya-san, where he held a Shion (P5| no Mandd-e.* 
The term shion, “four favours”, means the favours received from 
one’s parents, all living beings, the king of the country and the 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvi, p. 268; Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. x, p. 285. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xix, p. 305. 

3 Cf. Bukkyo Daijii, III, p. 4274, s. v. Mando-e. 

^ Washio, p. 230, 2, s. v. Kukai. 


16 



242 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Triratna, or those of one’s parents, teachers or elders, king and 
donators, or those of Heaven and Eartli, king and parents. The 
favours of the living beings are those of the parents of innume- 
rable generations. Donators are those who gave presents of valu- 
able things, compassion or the Law, thus giving wealth or joy 
or the blessings of Buddha’s doctrine. The shion are also the 
favours of one’s father, mother, the Buddha and the priests who 
expound the Law, or those of the Empire, the King, one’s teachers 
and parents. ' 

The text of the gwammon “votive document”, com- 

posed to explain the donator’s intention in performing sacrificial 
ceremonies), entitled Kdya-san Mando-e gwammon, informs us 
that it was a mando manke no e, a “festival of ten thousand 
flowers” (sacrificed to the Buddha), celebrated by Kukai and the 
kongo-shi ( ^ BH Ir. vajraputra, Vajra-sons, i. e. the Sliingon 
priests) in Kongobuji, the main sanctuary of Koya-san. The main 
image of the Kondo of Kongobuji being Yakushi Nyorai, the 
offerings were apparently made especially to this Buddha. The 
priests made (“presented”) the four kinds of wisdom-mudras of 
the mandalas of the two departments {ryobu no mandara shishu 
no chi-in, ^ ^ ^ 0 ® ^[1 ), i. e. of the Kongokai 

and the Taizokai. These tour 'wxsdom-mudras, shichi-in, 
are that of the Great Wisdom ( 3 ^:^ Maha-jhana 

mudra, the Samaya (^^ ^) jnana-mudrd, the Dharmajhana- 
mudra ( f fj ) and the Karma-jnana-mudra ( f fj 

Kobo Daishi considered these madras to be identical with the 
four kinds of mandalas, shishu mandara. It was established that 
one such festival should be held yearly as a thanksgiving 
for the four favours (^ ^ His vow should last 

' Daijiten, p. 686,11, s. v. shion-, Daijii, II, p. 2051, s.v. shion. With regard 
to the piety towards parents, teachers and elders we may refer to Ch. viii, 
§ 8, where the second of the five kinds of repentance is connected 
therewith. 

® Daijiten, p. 727, 2, s.v. shichi-in-, Himitsu Jirin, p. 497, s.v. shichi-in. 



Mando Manke, no e on Koya-san. 243 

as long as Emptiness, the living beings and Nirvana lasted (i. e. 
for ever). ' 

We learn from this text that it was not only a festival of 
light, but also of flowers; that Kukai celebrated it as a mystic 
thanksgiving for the four favours, and that he intended to make 
it a yearly ceremony. Even nowadays a mandd-e is held on the 
24th day of the 12 th month in the Golden Hall of Kbbo’s sanctuary, 
and “ten thousand lamps” always burn, night and day, before 
his shrine. ^ 


§ 5. The Mando-e of Yakushiji and Gwangoji 
(A.D. 833 and 843). 

The old battle of light against dabkness. 


In A.D. 833 (TenchO 10) the Hosso priest Etatsu (^^) 
(A.D. 796—878) began to celebrate a mando-e in Yakushiji, the 
famous temple at Nara, and from then till his death in A.D. 878 
he performed the same ceremony yearly. It is not stated in which 
month it took place. 

Ten years later, in A.D. 843 (Jowa 10, V 26) the Emperor 
Nimmyo by Imperial decree presented one bushel of oil and 300 
sheaves of rice from the regular taxes to the ancient Sanron 
shrine Gwangoji ^) at Nara (the honzon or principal- 

image of which was Sakyamuni), and decided that thenceforth 
on the 15th of the sixth month a yearly manke-e or “Ten thousand 
flowers-festival” (^ ^ should be held in that temple, and 

‘ Daijiten, p. 1672, 1, s. v. Mando-e, quoting the Shoryoshu, 
i.e. the , Hensho hokki shoryoshu, a collection 

of Kobo Daishi’s writings by his pupil Shinsai, (A.D. 800—860). 

Ch. VIII (of the ten chapters). 

2 Himitsu jirin, p. 1018, s. v. mando-e. 

2 Genko Shakusho, Ch. ix, p. 793. 



244 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


on the 15th of the tenth month a yearly mandd-e should take 
place in the same sanctuary. ' 

Thus the mando-e became a regular ceremony of Kongobuji, 
Yakushiji and Gwangoji, three main temples of the Shingon,-^-^ 
Hosso and Sanron sects. As to the dates, fixed by the Emperor 
Nimmyo, he probably followed a Chinese example. To the Taoists 
both dates are important; the day of the full-moon of the sixth 
month, the middle of the year, is, as we learn from De Groot’s 
Fetes Annuelles (I, pp. 394 sqq.) devoted to the cult of the Mother 
goddess, who receives the spirits, purified in hell, and decides 
into which bodies they shall be reincarnated. And the day of 
the full-moon of the tenth month is the Hia-yuen (“fC Ji^), the 
last of the three festivals in honour of the Lords of the Three 
Worlds, mentioned above (Ch. IV, Festival of the dead, § 8, F), 
which had probably replaced an ancient autumnal rite, originally 
intended to strengthen the declining sun. Kobo Daishi's mando-e 
being celebrated towards the end of the year, and the Emperor 
Nimmyo’s mando-e having been held in the beginning of the 
dark season, we are inclined to suppose a close connection 
between these Buddhist lantern festivals and ancient ideas with 
regard to the magical power of light in strengthening the sun. 
The original conception was lost and other reasons were given 
according to the different cults, but the dates remained as strong 
evidence of the old battle of light against the dangerous powers 
of darkness. 

§ 6. The Mando-e of Todaiji in the Engi era {A.D. 901 — 922). 

In the Engi era (A.D. 901—922) the Mando-e of Todaiji, the 
main sanctuary of the Kegon sect, was a regular winter ceremony, 

' Shoku Nihon koki, 0 (A.D. 796—858), written A.D. 

869 by Fujiwara no Yoshifusa, ^ ^^5 who lived 804—872; 

Ch. xni, K. T. K. Ill, p. 338; Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xv, K. T. K. V, 
pp. 515 sq. 



Mando-e of Yakushiji, Gwangoji and Todaiji. 245 

as we learn from the Todaiji yorokii ^ ' and 

from the Engishiki former work ^ enumerates 

the four sai-e or vegetarian festivals of the four seasons 

celebrated in Todaiji. The Kegon no dai-e 
in the spring (III 14), when the 80 chapters of the Kegonkyo 
were expounded; the Daihannyakyo-e ^ ^ 1 ^) in the 

autumn (IX 15), when the 600 chapters of that famous sutra 
were read; the Manke-e in the summer (VI 15), when ten thousand 
lotus flowers were sacrificed to Vairocana of the Thousand- 
leaves-pedestal Senyodai no Shana, the lotus 

seat of Vairocana’s sambhoga~kdya, hoshin) ; ^ and the 

Mando-e in the winter (X 15), when ten thousand lamps {tomyo, 
j)^ 55 ) were used as an offering to the Buddha of Great Uni- 
versal Light (Daihenjo no Biida, , i.e. Maha- 

vairochna’s Dharniakaya, hoshin). According to the same 

work the Mando-e was held in the Daibutsuden 
(the Kondo, ^ ^) with religious dances and music. Ten thousand 
earthen lamps, forty pine-torches, rinto (^ j)^, “circular lamps”) ^ 
and sharinto (^^^) were there used; besides the twelve 
doshi ( ^ erS ) or leaders, there w^ere priests with khakkharas 

{shakujo, magical staffs with metal rings), musicians, etc. 

The Engishiki (Ch. XXVI, p. 794) mentions the Mando-e of 
Todaiji in connection with the oil, required as taxes on behalf 
of this temple (four koku for this festival); in the same passage 
one bushel of oil and three hundred sheaves of rice are said to 

‘ Quoted Daijii, 111, p. 4274, s. v. Mando-e. 

2 Written in A.D. 927 by Fujiwara no Tokihira and Tadahira ( > 

; Ch. XXVI, , K.T.K. xm p. 794. 

^ About the Todaiji ydroku cf. Daijii, III, p. 3463, s. v. It consists of ten 
chapters; the author is unknown. 

“ Cf. Daijiten, p. 1038, s. v. senyodai. 

® About the rinto cf. Daijii, p. 4546, s, v.: oil lamps hung before the 
Buddha. 



246 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


be furnished by Yamato province as taxes for the yearly Manke-e 
(VI 15) and Mandd-e (X 15) of Gwangoji (instituted in A.D. 843 
as stated above). 


§ 7. The Mando-e of Horyuji, Shitennoji (9th century), 
Gokurakuji (IQth century), Hoko-in, Kongobuji (on Kdya-san) 
( 11 th century), and Yakushiji (12th century). 

There were also Mando-e of Horyuji in Nara and Shitennoji 
(the famous shrine built in A.D. 593 by Shotoku Taishi) in Settsu 
province, near the present Osaka, as we learn from the passage 
of the Shorydshn (9th century, quoted above in reference to Kobs 
Daishi’s votive document concerning the Mandd-e and Manke-e 
of Koya-san). 

in A.D. 969 (Xll 28) a Mando-e was held in Gokurakuji, an 
Amitabha sanctuary in Yamashiro, founded by Fujiwara no Moto- 
tsuna (cf. below, Ch. VIII, § 16, B). 

On the 13th day of the third month of A.D. 1004 (Kwankb 1) 
the Sadaijin (Michinaga) went to the temple Hoko-in ( 
in Kyoto in order to hold a Mando-e. This was a //osso sanctuary, 
made into a temple in A.D. 990 (Shoryaku 1) by the Kwampaku 
Fujiwara no Kane-ie (^ whose residence it had been; 

next year the dedicatory ceremony was led by the Hosso priest 
Shinki (ft ^). In A.D. 994 Kane-ie’s son Michitaka, who the 
previous year had become Kwampaku, dedicated the Shakuzenji, 
^ ^ in the compound of the sanctuary with a gold-co- 
loured Vairocana image, sixteen feet high, and his attendant 
Buddhas Shaka and Yakushi. ’ Thus, just as in Todaiji, the 
Mandd-e of A.D. 1004 may have been celebrated in honour of 
Mahdvairocana, the Buddha of Universal Light. 


' Bukkyo daijii, p. 4109, 3, s. v. Hoko-in-, Hyakurensho, Hi 
written after 1259, Ch. IV, Ichijo-in, Kokushi taikei Vol. XIV, p. 16. 



Mando-e performed in the 9th — I2th centuries. 


247 


In the eleventh century the Shingon priest Kishin a 

man of the revival (chuko, ) of Koya-san, ' restored the 

Mando-e of Kongobuji to its former glory, and in A.D. 1023 
(Chian 3) Fujiwara no Michinaga, the mightiest of his house 
(966 — 1027), ascended the mountain and celebrated it with much 
pomp. In A.D. 1088 (Kwanji 2) the Emperor Shirakawa (who 
had abdicated two years previously, but continued to reign) went 
to Koya-san and performed a sammando-kii ("J^) or “Thirty- 
thousand-lamps-offering”. - 

As to the Mando-e of Yakushiji, Taira no Yasuyori (2p 
in his work on Buddhism, entitled Homotsu shu ( ), or 

“Collection of precious things”, written in A.D. 1178 (Jishb 2), 
states that in his day this ceremony was still performed as Etatsu 
had instituted it in A.D. 833. ^ Since Bhaisajyaguru represents 
the sun with its healing power, and Mahdvairocana is the Dai- 
nichi Nyorai or the Tathagata the Great Sun, it is quite clear 
why these festivals of light were celebrated in their sanctuaries 
especially. Sakyamuni, worshipped in the same way in Gwangoji 
and, as one of the two attendants of Vairocana, in Hokoin {Shaku- 
zenji), proves to have been considered the third Buddha of this 
Trinity of Light. 

§ 8. The Mando-e, celebrated at the present day on Koya-san. 

At the present day the mando are numberless candles, placed 
upon an altar, consisting of thin wooden boards and built up in 
front of the Buddha in the form of steps; these candles are 
lighted as an offering to him. The Mando-e, however, in which, 
as seen above, earthen oil lamps and torches were used, circum- 
ambulatory processions were held and religious dances and music 

' Himitsu jirin, p. 158, s. v. Kishin. 

2 Ibid., p. 1018, s. V. Mando-e. 

^ Zokit Gimsho ruiju,t , No. 952, Ch. vi. 



248 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


were performed, seem to have fallen info disuse in the thirteenth 
century, for neither in the biographies of Buddhist priests, nor 
in the annals of that time (as e. g. the Zoku Shigusho, 

do we find them mentioned. Yet, as stated before, on 
the 24 th day of the 12th month a Mandd-e is still held in the 
Golden Hall of Kobo Daishi’s sanctuary on Koya-san. Since this 
is not the date of his death (he died A.D. 835, III 21), it must be 
the end of the year, the time of the approaching renewal 
of light, the time of thanksgiving and repentance, which is still 
chosen for this ancient festival of light. 

' Zoku Kokiishi taikei, Vol. I, beginning with A.D. 1259. 



CHAPTER VIII. 


THE RITES OF REPENTANCE (KEKWA, >|^ , SANGE, 

AND SEMBO, 

§ 1. The meaning of the words kekwa, sange and sembo. 

The term kekwa, litt. “repentance for trespass! ngs”, 

is usgd in the oldest translations; the term sange, litt. 

“ksamayati (asking forgiveness) and repentance’', is apparently 
of later date. 

Of the three translations of the Sariputra ksama{?) sufra (Nanjo 
Nos. 1106, 1103, 1090), the first (A.D. 148—170) gives kekwa, 
the two others (A.D. 506—520, and 590) give sange (cf. next 
paragraphs). 

In Nanjo No. 1091 (the Buddhabhashita ManjusrJ ksamdiy) 
Sutra, Bussetsu Monju kekwa kyo, the 

term kekwa is still used by Dharmaraksha I (NanjO App. 11 23), 
who translated it between A.D. 266 and 317. 

In A.D. 384—385 Dharmanandi, in his translation of the Ekot- 
taragama sdtra (Nanjo No. 543, Ch. 47, p. 223b, 2), uses both 
kekwa and sange. 

In A.D. 412 — 413 Buddhayasas, assisted by the Chinese priest 
Chuh Fuh-nien (^'^ Nanjo App. II 61 and 58), translated 
Nanjo No. 545, the Dirghagama sutra 

Bussetsu Chdagonkyo, consisting of 30 sutras). We read there 
about Ajatasatru, King of Magadha, whose repentance (kchra) 
for having murdered his father Bimbisara was accepted (^) by 



250 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the Buddha. ' Seven years earlier (A.D. 405), however, the same 
priests used the terms sange and san in their translation 

of the Dharmagiipta-vinaya (Nanjo No. 1117, Caturvarga-vinaya- 
pitaka, Shibunritsuzd). ’ There a monk who has 

asked for a new almsbowl although his old one has less than 
five mended spots gosetsu) and did not leak, is said to 

have committed the sin of shada (:^ , Naissargika prayascittika, 

i. e. an offence requiring expiation by forfeiture. ^ The words “to 
receive this monk’s san”, ^ used in this passage, 

as well as the words; “after having ‘thrown away’, i.e. abandoned 
(the bowl to the monks) he must perform sange”, 

point to his confession (desayati) and “asking for- 
giveness” {ksamayati, abbreviated into san, from samina, 

Dharmaraksha il, a priest from Central India, who between 
A.D. 414 and 423 translated Buddhist works in China, wrote 
sange in the Konkwomyokyd (Nanjs No. 127, Siivarna-prabhasa 
sutra, Ch. II, 4). This being a very important text of the T‘ien-fai 
school, the influence of its language must have been very great. ^ 
The founder of that school, Chi-che ta-shi, ^ ^ ^ (A.D. 

531 — 597), explained the word san, '|^, by “stating and dis- 
closing one’s former evil deeds” ^ ^ chinro zen-aku), 
and the word ke, »J^, by “correcting the past and improving the 
future” (^^#^, gai-o shurai). " Thus we see that he 


' Nanjo No. 545, Ch. xvii; new Jap. ed., cover Xiii, vol. 8, p. 81b. 

^ Nanjo No. 1117, Ch. ix. Great Trip, of Leiden, pp. 7 and 11; new jap. 
ed., cover xvii, vol. 8, p. 45 a. 

3 Cf. Kern, Manual of Buddhism, p. 85, and note 12; Geschiedenis van 
het Buddhisme in Indie, II p. 90, No. 22 of the thirty offences of this kind; 
Daijiten, p. 806 s. v. shada-, p. 1315 s. v. nisatsugi haittai-, p. 1419, s.v. hinju. 

“ Cf. above, Ch. i, § 8; below, Ch. viii, § 7; Ch. xi. 

^ Nanjo No. 1538, one of the three principal works of 

the T‘ien-t‘ai school, Tendai sandaibu, ^ ^ (Nos. 1534, 1536, 

1538), spoken by Chi-che ta-shi in A.D. 594 and recorded by Kwan-ting; 



The terms sange and botsuro. 


251 


considered the term sange to mean; “confession and cor- 
rection of evil”. As to confession, the common Chinese 
Buddhist term for this is •§! hotsuro, “to utter and disclose”, 
which we find connected with sange in the Bodhisaftva-pitaka- 
SLitra (Nanjo No. 1103, translated A.D. 506 — 520); both terms 
are used also on the same page of the Kwan Fugengyo (cf. below, 
this Chapter, § 8; Nanjo No. 394, translated A.D. 424 — 441), one 
of the principal texts on repentance (p. 5b). There we read : 

, “to confess all evil deeds”, and 
“the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra (Fugen) on behalf of the per- 
formers of the religious rites (ff gyoja) explains the rokkon 

shop sange no ho, ^ ^ , ‘the Ceremony 

of Repentance’, a purification of the six organs of sensation”. 

In both works hotsuro and sange are different terms, and this 
agrees with the original meaning of the word san, “asking 
forgiveness”, because it is an abbreviation of the Sanskrit 
word ksamayati. After having confessed their crimes (hotsuro) 
to the Buddhas, the worshippers ask forgiveness (san, 'j^) 
and utter their repentance (ke, 

In A.D. 423 Dharmaraksha II translated the Mahaparinirvana 
sutra (Daihan Nehangyo, ^ (NanjS No. 113, the 

17 th chapter of which is devoted to King Ajatasatru’s illness (his 

Ch. VII, 2, Great Jap. Trip, of Leiden, p. I5o, about the five kinds of repen- 
tance ( goke) and the meaning of sange. The words gai-o shurai, 

“to correct the past and improve the future”, are found already in Nanjo 
No. 1091, the Bussetsu Monjii kckwa kyo, after the term kekwa (translated 
by Dharmaraksha A.D. 266 — 317) (new Jap. ed. of Trip. XVll, 2, p. 169a and 6). 

' Cf. the commentaries Nanjo Nos. 1548, 1549, 1552, 1553, two of which 
were orally given by the founder of the T‘ien-t‘ai school in China, Chi-che 
ta-shi, (A.D. 531—597), and] recorded by his principal 

disciple Kwanting, (A.D. 561—632), whereas the two other works 

are commentaries on them, compiled about A.D. 1020 by Chi-li, jjj^, 
called the |7tj t}^ ^ or “Saint of Mount Sze-ming” in Cheh-kiang 

province. 



252 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


body being covered with sores) and repentance. There we find 
the terms hotsuro, sange and zangi 

used to denote confession, (asking forgiveness and) repentance, 
and shame, by the great physician Jivaka {Jiva) Giba) 

in answer to the king’s request to explain to him the bliss of 
the Law and to take away his pain and illness. The same terms 
are used in the Southern revision of the text by Hwui-yen 
J^) and others (A.D. 424—453) (Ch. XVII) (Nanjb No. 114). 
Confession, repentance and shame are compared by jTvaka to a 
brilliant pearl suddenly making pure the dirty water into which 
it is laid, and to the moon’s clear light, which drives away the 
dark clouds. Thus the King’s crimes shall be extinguished by 
repentance and shame (towards himself and others), and he shall 
become pure and stainless. ‘ 

Huen-ying (!^ i@, Nanjo App. Ill 20), who in about A.p. 649 
compiled his dictionary of Buddhist terms entitled Issaikyb ongi, 
Nanjo No. 1605, the first of this kind of 
work, says that san, is a wrong abbreviation of ksama, 

3^]^, which means patience, nin, and that it means 

(asking) “bear with patience and pardon my crimes” (^^ 
^ ). Then he speaks about the Uposatha or Sabbath, held 

twice a month (on the 15th and 29th or 30th day), and about 
the term Pratidesayani, confession.^ 

I-tsing (^ Nanjo App. II 149, the famous Chinese pilgrim, 
who travelled A.D. 671 — 695, translated A.D. 700 — 712, and died 
in A.D. 713) in his work on the Vinaya (Nanjo No. 1492, Nankai 

' Nanjo No. 113, Ch. xix, new ed. viii, 5, p. 926, Nanjo No. 114 (Southern 
revision), Ch. xvii, Sect 4, p. 926. jivaka’s explanations pertain to so-called 
“material repentance” (jisan); whereas the Buddha himself refers to repen- 
tance regarding the Absolute Nature {risan) (cf. below, § 12 B). 

2 Nanjo No. 1605, Ch. xv, p. 106, sub Ch. ix of the , quoted 

above, s. v. sange; the work is usually cited after the author’s name as 
Gen-o ongi. 

® Cf. Kern, Manual of Buddhism, p. 86. 



The term sange. 


253 


kiki nalhd den, ^ ^ * ** 0 states that the 

old term sange does not concern the explaining of one’s sins 
setsuzai, i. e. apatti-pratidesana, the confession on the 
half-monthly Sabbath or on the Pravarana day, at the end of 
the Retreat), * but that san is ksama, a Western word for pa- 
tience, nin, whereas ke, is a Chinese word for repen- 
tance. He arrives at the conclusion that sange means “asking 
forgiveness (||f, sha) and repenting”, whereas confessing one’s 
crimes is indicated by the term desayaii (!£{'* a e 

■TJ ^ 

Hwui-wen Nanjo App. Ill 32), who in about A. D. 700 

wrote the Kegonkyo-ongi, ^ ^ ^ (quoted as Eon ongi 

after the author; Nanjo No. 1606, a dictionary of terms found 
in the Kegonkyd, Nanjo No. 88) says the same; “San is ksama, 
whiclr means ‘asking patience’, shonin; it means begging 

those present to receive with patience one’s repentance for sins” 

Professor Vogel kindly informs me, that ksamayati is “asking 
forgiveness”; desayati means “to show”, in Buddhist language 
“to preach”, but also “to confess” (Dh. 105); desana is “in- 
struction” (legal acknowledgment), confession; apatti and apa- 
radha mean “crime, sin”, and ksama “patience”. * This agrees 
with the definitions of the Chinese scholars of the seventh and 
eighth centuries, and we would expect ksamayati in the original 
Sanskrit texts where the translations gave kekwa and sange. This 

* Cf. Datjifen, p. 1031, 2, s. v. setsuzai; Nanjo No. 1118, the Mulasarvasfi- 
vada-nikaya-vinaya, translated by 1-tsing in A.D. 703, Ch. xvi. No. 13, p. la, 
and , tsuige-, Daijii, II, p. 1554, 1, s. v. sange. 

^ Daijiten, p. 615, 1, s. v, sange. 

^ Nanjo No. 1600, Ch. ill, p. 6a, sub. Ch. 48 of the Kegonkyd {Avatam- 
saka sit fra). 

** Cf. Monier Williams, Sanskr.-Engl. Diet. (1899), p. 326, 3, s.v. kohamS. 



254 


'Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


is, however, not the case in the Suvarnaprabhasa sutra (Nanjo 
No. 127), where, as Dr. Rahder told me, the substantive desana 
and the verb desayati, “confession” and “to confess”, are found 
as the terms translated into sange by Dharmaraksha II between 
A.D. 414 and 423. He also gave me the original form of the 
famous gatha of repentant confession, to be found in the last 
chapter of the Avatamsaka sutra of 40 chapters (fasciculi), Nanjo 
No. 89 (the so-called sange-mon, dealt with below, same Chapter, 
§ 9). There pratidesayani has been translated by Prajha (A.D. 
796 — 798) into sange, whereas in A.D. 420 in Nanjo No. 1336 
(an earlier version of the 62 verses of No. 89) Buddhabhadra 
uses the older term kekwa. Amoghavajra, however, who between 
A.D. 746 and 771 rendered the same verses in Nanjo No. 1142, 
gives jinsetsu, ^ “to communicate, state”, i. e. to confess. 
Prof. Leumann translates the word pratidesayani by “das vseise 
ich alles (mit Abscheu) zuriick”, and remarks in a note with 
regard to the word “zuriick”: “das bereue oder beichte ich alles 
mit dem Vorsatz es nicht mehr zu tun”. ' 

Prof, de la Vallee Poussin kindly drew my attention to an 
interesting note of Prof. Pelliot in an article concerning the Sects 
of the White Lotus and the White Cloud. " There the term san 
is rendered into "resolution” with regard to the seven san of 
Ts‘e-yun, which the author believes to be different from the 
“sept dispositions du coeur necessaires pour amener le repentir 
et le ferme propos” (the shichishu-zangeshin, enumerated Bukkyo 
daijiten, p. 732, I). He bases his translation on a passage of the 
Bukkyo jiten, where evidently Chi-che ta-shi's explanation, men- 
tioned above, was erroneously given in the reverse way, i.e. san 
referring to the future and ke to the past. In his “Fragment du 

' Cf. K. Watanabe, Die BhadracarJ (Leipzig 1912), text p. 30, translation 
of Prof. Leumann p. 42; the verse is not written in Sanskrit, but in gathd 
dialect, as Dr. Rahder informs me. Watanabe himself calls this sangemon 
“das Bekenntnis der Siinden”. 

^ Bulletin de I’Ecoie Frangaise d’ Extreme-Orient, III (1903), p. 310, 
note 2. 



The terms kekwa and sangi. 


255 


Suvarnaprabhasasiitra en Iranien oriental ' Prof, Pelliot translates 
“confession”, which is better than “resolution”; “confession 
repentante”- may be the best way of rendering these terms. 

Practically the terms kekwa and sange, being older and later 
translations of the same Sanskrit words, were used as synonyms ; 
repentance was to the Chinese mind their principal factor.^ 

Evidently the Indian Buddhists laid stress upon the value of 
confession and asking forgiveness, whereas in China 
repentance, as the cause of confession, was deemed the 
main point. As a matter of fact the Golden Drum in the Sutra 
of the Golden Light is easier understood as a “Drum of Repen- 
tance” than as a “Drum of Confession”; for only after having 
heard its penetrating voice do the sinners begin to confess 
their crimes. 

The fact that in A.D. 384 — 385 Dharmanandi used kekwa and 
sange simultaneously, whereas in A.D. 405 Buddhayasas and 
Chuh Fah-nien wrote sange, but kekwa in A.D. 412 — 413, shows 
that the beginning of the fifth century was the time when the 
older term kekwa was gradually superseded by the new word sange. 

‘ Etudes linguistiques sur les documents de la Mission Pelliot, Fasc. IV, 
Paris 1913, pp. 8 (des stances de confession), 13 {cela je confesse), 30 
{desanijsa, avec desana, confession. 

^ Prof, de Groot, Code du Maiidydna en Chine, p. 38, translated ke in 
this way. 

3 Cf. also Fah-yun, in his famous diclionary (Nanjo No. 1640), 

written in A.D. 1151, Ch. xi. No. 48, p. 9a, s.v. samma, and Chi-li > 

called mmMm ) in his commentary on Chi-che ta-shi’s commentary 
on the Konkwomydkyo (Suvarnaprabhasasiitra) (Nanj5 No. 1553, written 
about A.D. 1020), Ch. iii, and No. 1552 (Chi-che ta-shi’s commentary re- 
corded by his pupil Kwan-ting, (A.D. 561 — 632), Ch. ill, p. 90 sqq. 

(new ed. xxxm, 1) (five meanings of san and ke in the term sange). Further 
Tao-suen, ^ ^ (A.D. 596— 667) (Jj^ Ch. i) and Tsung-mih, ^ ^ 
(A.D. 779 — 840), the fifth patriarch of the Kegon school (App. Ilf 38) 
(H ^ ^ Ch. x) (cf. Nanjo No. 1629), are quoted in the 
Daijii, 11, p. 1554, 2. 



256 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Dharmaraksha’s translation of the Suvarnaprabhasa-sutra 
A.D. 414 and 423) may have given the decisive impetus in favour 
of the new terra, which is a curious combination of abbreviated 
Sanskrit and Chinese. Yet the word kekwa remained in the names 
of the Yakushi, Amida, Shaka, Miroku, Jizo, Kichijo kekwa 
ceremonies. 

In the Japanese annals we do not find the term sange before 
the year A.D. 838 (Showa 5, XII 15), when the Emperor Nimmyo 
instituted the Butsumyd sange as a regular festival, to be cele- 
brated in the Palace towards the end of the year. ' 

The term sembo, ^ , a combination of the word san, here 
pronounced sen, and ho, rite, i. e. “rites for asking forgiveness 
(patience)” or “penitential rites”, was used in China already in 
A.D, 563, when the Emperor Wen Ti held a Masha-daie in the 
Palace with Hokke-sembo and Konkwdmyd-sembo, based upon the 
Lotus sutra and the Sutra of the Golden Light (Nanjb Nos. 134 
and 127). In Japan Jikaku Daishi was the first to use this term 
in practising the Hokke-sembo for the first time in A.D. 829 
(about the same time as the beginning of the word sange in 
japan) in the Cryptomeria Cave on Hieizan (below, this Ch., § 18). 

§ 2. The Sharihotsu kekwa kyd m ^ it ID or 

Sutra on Repentance (spoken by the Buddha) at Sariputra’s 
request (Nanjo No. 1106), translated by An Shi-kao 
in A.D. 148—170. 

This is the oldest translation of a Vinaya sutra of the Maha- 
ydna, relating to this subject, made by An Shi-kao ( ^ ift 1^) 
(Nanjo, App. II 4), a Western prince who arrived in China in 
A.D. 148 after having become a monk, and translated many Bud- 

‘ Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. vii, p. 250. The Kichijo-kekwa of A.D. 767 (1) 
(Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxvui, p. 470) in the Genko Shakusho (Ch. x\in, p. 1029) 
are wrongly called Kichljo-sen. 



The Sharihotsu kekwa kyo {Nanjo No. 1106). 257 

dhist works until A.D. 170. It is an earlier and shorter translation 
of Nanjo No. 1103 (the Bosatsu-zo kyo, ^ ^ ^ or Bodhi- 
sattva-pitaka-sutra, translated by Sahghapala in A.D. 506 — 520) 
and No. 1090 (the Daijo sanju sange kyo, 

or Sutra on Repentance of the Three Collective species 
of beings {sanju : those of a correct, a wicked and a mixed 
nature) of Mahdydna, translated about A.D. 590 by Jnanagupta 
and Dharmagupta). 

When the Buddha was seated on the Vulture Peak near 
Rajagrha with 1250 bhikshus and 1000 Bodhisattvas, his first 
disciple Sariputra asked him how a virtuous man or woman, 
who wished to obtain the Buddha road, should repent for the 
crimes committed in former existences. The Buddha praised him 
for this question and said that if a virtuous man or woman 
wished to become an Arhat, a Pratyeka-Buddha or a Buddha 
and to know the things of the past and the future, early in the 
morning, at noon and at sunset, when people go to bed (^ ^, 
ninj'O, 1 . e. ten o’clock, the hour of the hog), at midnight and 
when the cocks crow (i. e. six times) they should always take 
a bath, put their clothes in order, fold their hands, and, bowing 
to the ten sides, repent their sins {kekwa, ), saying: 

“If from innumerable kalpas ago, when we did not know the 
Buddha, the Dharma and the Sahgha, nor (the difference between) 
good and evil, up to the present age our body, mouth and heart 
have committed crimes (here follows a long enumeration of sins), 
we supplicate all the Buddhas of the ten quarters to have com- 
passion for us to with regard to our repentance {kekwa), and to cause 
us not to commit those crimes again neither in the present life nor 

in future existences We do not dare to lie before the Buddhas 

with regard to our crimes nor to hide them. Henceforth we shall 
not again dare to trespass”. 

“All those who wish to be reborn in a happy state instead of 
as animals or unhappy men must repent and not hide their evil 
deeds Mr- 


17 



258 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 3. The Bosatsu-zo kyo ^ ^ Sutra on the 

Bodhisattva-pitaka {Nanjo No. 1103), translated by Sahghapala 

in A.D. 506—520. 

A more extensive translation of the same text (eleven double 
pages instead of five) was given by Sanghapala (or Sahghavarman) 
(Nanjo App. II 102), a sramana from Fu-nan (:^^), who 
translated 10 or 11 works in A.D. 506 — 520.' 

Here the Buddha says; "Those who wish to learn the samyak- 
sambodhi, either as followers of the Srdvaka-yana or of the 
Pratyeka-yana or of the Mahayana, or other living beings, must 
recite the names of ten Buddhas of ten worlds of 
the ten quarters and light ten thousand lamps (^ 
i^). either with fat (litt. butter, ^) or oil-incense and 
'rubbed incense’ (y^ ^ ^ ^ ^)- Also according to the number 
of lamps they must make a great sacrifice, a great distribution 
{dai kayo dai fuse, of all kinds of 

flowers, fruits and leaves. They must fill ten jars with 
water and wash and purify themselves and perfume their bodies 
with incense. After having put on new, clean garments they must 
again wash their hands and feet, and hold ten lotus flowers in 
each hand. They must eat vegetable food, and their servants must 
all be clean and place Buddha seats on the ten sides. After having 
arranged the seats on the ten sides according to convenience, 
the ‘men of repentance’ take their places and pay reverence to 
the Buddhas of the ten quarters. Their mouths confess spontaneously 
and utter their prayers for forgiveness and their feelings of repen- 
tance (^ hotsuro sange) for their former deeds and 

for the many evil actions, committed in the beginningless course 
of their existences mushi shoji)] they amend the 


' New Jap. ed. xvii 2, pp. 231 — 234. 



The Bosatsu-zo kyo (Nanjo No. 1103). 


259 


past and improve the future, and swear that they will not again 
commit evil ^ ^ ^ 

As stated above (Ch. VII, § 3), the sentence “By lighting ten 
thousand lamps repentance is made for many sins” (jj^ 

), quoted by the dictionaries, must refer to 
this passage, although those words are not found in the sutra. 

Then the names of the ten worlds, one in each quarter, and 
those of the ten Buddhas, one in each world, are enumerated 
by the Buddha, who continues: “Six times in one day 
and one night they must perform these rites, pay 
reverence and bow, bare the right shoulder and place the right 
knee on the ground, and, joining their palms, must turn to the 
Buddhas and speak the following words: ‘We revere all the 

Buddhas of the ten quarters etc We now confess our 

sins, to those Buddhas, pray for forgiveness and 

repent (hotsuro sange) We confess with our whole heart and 

we do not dare to hide our crimes 

and having confessed we swear that we do not dare to commit 
those evil deeds again”. ‘ 

‘ Cf. Biikkyo daijii 11, p. 1559, 3, s. v. sange no goho, the five rites of 
repentance of the HTnayanists in the presence of a high-priest. 

1. baring the right shoulder (to show that one is ready to fulfill the task 
imposed upon him). 

2. kneeling with the right knee on the ground (to show that one is very 
diligent and careful). 

3. joining the palms of the hands (to show that one’s heart is undisturbed). 

4. explaining one’s sins (to show that one is willing to confess and not 
to conceal anything). 

5. bowing down before the feet of the high-priest (omitted if it be only 
a young monk) (to show humbleness and the utmost respect). 

These rites are explained by Tsung-mih, > *be fifth patriarch of 

the Avafamsaka school (Kegon) (Nanjo App. HI 38, A.D. 779 — 840) in NanjS 
No. 1629, Ch. xxiv, a commentary on Nanjo No. 427. Cf. also Nanjb No. 1621, 
Numerical terms of the Tripitaka of the Ming dynasty, Ch. xxiii, p. 160fl, 
s. V. sange goho. 



260 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 4. The Daijo sanju sange kyd, ^ ^ ^ ^ 

(Nanjo No. 1090), translated by Jhanagupta and 
Dharmagupta about A.D. 590. 


Here ManjusrT prays the Buddha to explain to him how to 
ask forgiveness and repent (sange) and how to confess (hotsiiro) 

both terms being used separately. 

The “obstacles” (1^, sho] the bonno, vexations, i.e. 

the klesas, passions) on the road to Nirvana are the objects of 
this repentance, and in another passage (p. 165&) hotsiiro sange 
are combined in the same way as in the former translation; here 
also the term “hiding the sins” is rendered by fukiizo, ^ 

The times of the rites are divided into three in the day-time and 
three at night (pp. 165n and 1666). ‘ 


§ 5. The Mirokii Bosatsu shomon hongwan kyo, ^ IK? ^ ^ 
or “Sutra on the original vow asked by the 
Bodhisattva Maitreya” (Nanjo No. 55), translated by 
Dhannaraksa I in A.D. 266 — 317. 


This is an earlier translation of Nanjo No. 23 (42), a Maha- 
yana sUtra, the Mirokii Bosatsu shomon-e ) (translated 

by Bodhiruci II in A.D. 693 — 713). 

When Maitreya asks the Buddha, how many “dharma-actions” 
hogyo) there are in order to “abjure the wicked roads 
and not to follow the wicked kinds of knowledge”, the Tatha- 
gata answers with a long enumeration of different ways of doing 
so, whereupon Maitreya praises the Buddha in a stanza. 

In a further passage Ananda asks by means of which “virtuous 
power” (zengon, ^ ^) Maitreya has obtained to reach the 
Buddha road. Then the Buddha answers; “The Bodhisattva Mai- 

‘ New ed. XVII 2, pp. 165—168. 



Suttas on repentance. 


261 


treya three times daily and three times every night put his clothes 
in order, restrained his body, folded his hands, bowed his knees 
upon the ground, and, turning towards the ten quarters, pro- 
nounced the following stanza (gatha): 

‘I repent all my sins, 

I encourage and assist all the virtues of the Road, 

1 take refuge in and pay reverence to the Buddhas, 

That they may cause me to obtain the unsurpassable 

[Wisdom’. ‘ 

By means of this virtuous power the Bodhisattva Maitreya 
obtained the most perfect Enlightenment of the Unsurpassable 
Road of Perfect Truth”. 

Here “Repentance” is expressed by the simple character 
which is found shortly before in the sense of “regret” (i. e. in 
a bid sense, regretting deeds of self-sacrifice and compassion) 
in the terms and kegon and ke-i, “regret”, one 

of the hatten, or “eight ties”,* i. e. the bonno, 

or “vexations” {klesas, passions), which retain mankind from 
the path to Nirvana. ® 


§ 6. The Bussetsu Monjii kekwa kyo ( 

or Sutra spoken by the Buddha on ManJusrTs {sermon on) 
repentance {Nanjo No. 1091), translated by 
Dharmaraksa I in A.D. 266 — 317. 

The same priest Dharmaraksha ! (Nanjo App. II 23), having 
arrived in Loh-yang, the capital of China, in A.D. 266, translated 
a long list of sutras, among which Nanjo No. 1091, another 



lit# 


Wo aw— wMo 


^ jjii U 




^ ± S 


- Cf. Daijifen, p. 1244, 3, s. v. ten. 

3 Nanjo No. 55, new Jap. ed. VI 5, p. 2186. 



262 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


sutra on repentance. This is like No. 1106 (here § 2), a Vinaya 
sutra of the Mahdyana; there, however, it is not the Buddha 
himself who explains the immense effect of repentance and the 
way how to perform its rite, but the Bodhisattva ManjusrT, who 
in a long sermon expounds it to an enormous crowd of Bodhi- 
sattvas, great disciples, devas and nagas, demons and spirits. 

It is called the gotai kekwa, or “Repentance 

of the five parts of the body” (the same as gorin, H , or 
gosho, 5E. two knees, two arms, and head, which touch 

the ground when lying down in reverence). ' 

The term jishaku, Q “self-reproach”, is used with 

regard to the impure deeds of the body, mouth and mind in 
former lives, which must be repented by the performers of the 
kekwa rites. 

“Confession and repentance to the Buddhas of the ten 
quarters, correcting the past and amending the future {jishu kekwa, 
gai-d shurai), and not daring to conceal {fukan zdnyoku) (one's 

sins)" it. tit® 

[^) are words by means of which this text repeatedly expresses 
the gist of the matter. 

The blessing power of repentance gives “sinless felicity to all 
living beings and causes them to obtain an independent, original 
place, encouragement and assistance, and by means of their bases 
of virtue tokuhon, the same as zenkon, ^ , roots 

of virtue) they make offerings to all the Buddhas. Bowing down 
their heads on the ground they take refuge in them and offer to 
the Buddhas lamps and incense, flowers, canopies and necklaces, 
a large number of different things”. ^ 

Here we find lamps mentioned as the principal offerings to 
the Buddhas in connection with the blessing power of repentance, 
which reminds us of the ten thousand lamps, dealt with in the 
chapter on the mando-e (above, Ch. VII, § 3, pp. 239 — 241). 

* NanjS No. 1091, new Jap. ed. xvii 2, p. 1736. 

* Ibid., p. 1716. 



The Bussefsu Monju kekwa kyo {No. 1091). 


263 


After the sange rites (called Monju kekwa, 

ManjusrT explains those of zuiki (|^^), shoho {^^),kdku 

), eko im r«] ) and hotsugwan (^ ^), i. e. consenting 
to and rejoicing in the virtuous roots of others, praying the Buddhas 
to preach the Law, making offerings to them, turning all one’s 
virtuous roots to the benefit of the living beings and to the 
Buddha road, and uttering the four great vows of all Bodhisattvas. 
Of these six rites {sange included) only that of the offerings is 
omitted in the Tendai goke, ^ or Five kinds of 

repentance of the Tendai sect, treated below (same chapter, § 9), 
since the term shoho or “praying for the Law” has the same 
meaning as kwanjo, ^ “exhorting and requesting” (the 
Buddhas of the ten quarters to turn the Wheel of the Law). 

§ 7. The Suvarna-prabhasa sutra, i. e. the Konkwomyokyo 
{Nanjo No. 127), translated by Dharmaraksa II 
in A.D. 414 — 423, and the Konkwdmyd Saishod kyo 
^ 3E Suvarna-prabhasottama-raja sutra) {Nanjd No. 126), 
a complete translation of the same text by I-tsing, 
made in A.D. 700 — 712. 

In the beginning of the fifth century A.D. Dharmaraksha II 
(Nanjo App. II 67) translated the famous Suvarna-prabhasa-sutra, 
belonging to the sixth class of the Mahaydna sutras of the Canon 
(Nanjo No. 127). 

At the end of the opening gathd of this text, in praise of this 
“King of the Sutras”, we read that those who hear this sdtra 
and repent, and lay hold of it and keep it within their hearts, 
shall obtain a superior root of virtue, praised by the Buddhas. * 

The second and third sections of the text (first chapter) are 

' NanjS No. 127, new Jap. ed. IX 1, Ch. i, p. 45&; large Trip, of Leiden, 
Ch. I, p. 56. 



264 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


entitled Juryo-bon or “Section on the measure of (the Buddha’s) 
life” and Sange-bon. In Rdjagrha the Bodhisattva Shinso 
{Ruciraketu), ^ when meditating on the question why Sakyamuni’s 
life lasted only eighty years notwithstanding innumerable kalpas 
of virtue, saw four Buddhas appear in his room, which at once 
became large and stately and beautiful as a Buddha’s paradise. 
They were seated on high and precious lotus seats, one on each 
side ; Aksobhya (East), Ratnaketu - (South), Amitayus (West) 
and Varasvara (“Delicate and Wonderful Voice”, Mimydslid, 

^ (North), and emitted a great light, caused a rain 
of heavenly flowers to descend, and produced heavenly music. 
By means of their divine Buddha power they caused numberless 
beings of all kinds, demons and spirits, devas, nagas, gandharvas, 
asuras, garudas etc., as well as Bodhisattvas, to assemble in the 
Bodhisattva Shinsd’s room, and then pronounced a gatha (32 
lines of four characters each), saying that the years of Sakyamuni’s 
life were innumerable as the drops of all waters, immeasurable 
as the weight of all Sumeru mountains, incalculable as the atoms 
of dust of all the great lands, illimitable as the regions of the 
air and the milliards of kalpas. * 

That night the Bodhisattva Shinso saw in a dream a golden 
drum (^f^), beautiful and large, and emitting a brilliant 
light like that of the sun. ^ In the midst of that light innumerable 
Buddhas of the ten quarters, seated on vaidurya seats under 
precious trees and surrounded by numberless followers, were 

’ Cf. Rosenberg, Vocabulary, p. 35, 3, s. v. Shinso. 

, Hoso, instead of Ratnasambhava, , Hosho, the Buddha 

“Precious Shape”, of the South. 

3 Instead of Amoghasiddhi, Fukujdju, , the Buddha of 

the North. 

'* Ch. I, Sect. 2, p. 45. 

® In a modern Chinese Life of Buddha {Shaka Nyorai dge jiseki, Vol. II, 
5, 6) the golden drum is represented floating through the air in a broad 
beam of light emitted by Shinso’s head. 



The Suvarna-prabhasa sutra. 


265 


preaching the Law. A man, resembling a Brahman, struck the 
drum with a stick, and a great sound was produced, preaching 
a Hymn of Repentance (sange geju, The 

next morning the Bodhisattva went from Rajagrha to the Vulture 
Peak, whither an enormous crowd of Bodhisattvas and other 
living beings were also going. On reaching the Buddha’s place, 
he paid reverence to him and in a long gatha ' related his dream, 
speaking about the golden drum and the Hymn of Repentance. 
The delicate and wondrous (mimyo, j^) sound of this drum 
is able to remove all sorrows and fears of living beings, to save 
them from birth and death and cause them to reach the strand 
of great wisdom. It causes them to fathom the depth and far- 
reaching meaning of Indian sounds, the unsurpassable glory of 
the Buddhas, the excelling fruit of bodhi; it causes them to turn 
the LJnsurpassed Wheel, and, living innumerable kalpas in ex- 
quisite and wonderful purity, to preach the Saddharma for the 
benefit of all living beings. If the latter, being tortured in hell, 
hear the golden drum, they shall instantly pay reverence to the 
Buddhas. Its sound also causes living beings to obtain knowledge 
of innumerable former lives, and gives them right thoughts in 
their hearts. It makes them meet the Buddhas and keeps them 
far from all evil deeds, causing them to practice innumerable 
virtuous and pure actions. 

“On behalf of these living beings, 1 make a place of refuge. 
All these Buddhas may now testify to the heart of great com- 
passion, born in me long ago .... Buddhas of the ten quarters, 
I now ask forgiveness and repent (sange) of my original evil 
deeds.... I confess them all {hotsuro) with a sincere heart; 
those which I have not yet committed, I shall not in future 
venture to commit nor shall I dare to conceal {fukuzo, ^ 
my sins of the past. I now repent all evil deeds of body, mouth 

' Ch. I, Sect. 3, pp. 46—48 (648 lines of four characters each); cf. Sai~ 
shookyo, Ch. ii, sect. 4, pp. lb — 9& (228 lines of seven characters and 168 
of five characters each) (new Jap. ed. with movable types). 



266 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and mind. ’ .... If virtuous men and women, kings, kshatriyas 
and brahmans, respectfully joining their palms and turning towards 
the Buddha(s), praise him (them) and read this gdtha, in what- 
ever place they may be born they shall always know their former 
lives, their "roots" (panca indriyani, faith, energy, memory, ecstatic 
meditation, and wisdom) shall be pure, upright and serious, all 
kinds of blessing virtues shall be completed (within them), and 
wheresoever they be they shall always become kings of the 
countries, revered by their ministers. If they plant the blessing 
virtues in (the lands of) one, five or ten Buddhas, they shall not 
hear this Repentance (sange); but if they plant the roots of 
virtue in the (lands of) numberless Buddhas, they shall afterwards 
obtain to hear this Repentance". - 

The next section of the first chapter of the KonkwomyokyS, 
entitled Sandanbon (^ ^ t5p) or “Section (varga) of the Praise” 
(of the Buddhas) (sect. 4) consists of a gdtha. of 250 lines of 
4 characters each. It is a hymn spoken in praise of all the 
Buddhas of the past, present and future. The Buddha relates to 
the Earth goddess Drdha{j0^ jp® M: ^ ^ ^ > Jishin Kenro 

Zennyoten), that King Suvarna Bhujendra (;^ , Kinryuson) 

uttered this gdtha in former days. 

The first part of the hymn contains praise of the Buddhas. 
Then follows the vow that, if during innumerable kalpas, where- 
soever he may be born, in his dreams he shall always see the 
wonderful Qolden Drum and hear its deep Voice of 
Repentance, he will always truly expound it in the 
day-time, in order to save all living beings and to 
cause them to cross the sea of bitterness. For since he had 
seen and heard this drum in a dream he then pronounced 
this vow. 

In the second part of the hymn he expressed his hope of be- 

' L.I., pp. 46&, 47a. 

* L.I., p. 48a; cf. Saishookyd, Ch. ii, sect. 4, p. 96. 



The Suvarna-prabhasa sutra. 


267 


coming a Buddha and (as a reward for his praise of the Buddhas) 
of meeting the future Buddha Sakyamuni and of receiving from 
him the prediction (kibetsu, M) of his future Buddhaship, 
together with his two sons Konryu and Konkwo 

“Golden Naga” and “Golden Light”, who might always be 
his sons again. Thus on account of this “Repentance of the 
Golden Light” {Konkwo sange) he hoped that, by its power, the 
great sea of his crimes and trouble might dry up, and that he 
might obtain a great sea of blessing virtue and wisdom, perfect 
and pure, emitting himself a brilliant Buddha light. 

After having recited this gatha, spoken by King Suvarna Bhu- 
jendra, Sakyamuni addresses the Bodhisattva Shinso 
Ruciraketu) (who pronounced the first Hymn of Repentance, 
mentioned above) and informs him that in former days he and 
his sovs were that king and his two sons. Thus this king, in 
his later shape of the Bodhisattva Shinso, became the originator 
{hokkishu, of the Konkwomyokyo, i. e. the disciple 

who by his questions gave rise to this sermon of the Buddha. * 

The KonkwDmyo Saishookyo (Nanjo No. 126, 

^ i ^)> complete translation of the same text by the 
famous pilgrim 1-tsing, ^ who translated many texts from 
A.D. 700 to 712, is much more extensive. It contains 10 chapters 
and 31 sections, whereas the Konkwomyokyo, Dharmaraksha’s 
translation, only has 4 chapters and 18 sections. 

Here the name of the Bodhisattva who was. in doubt as to 
the reason why the Buddha’s life was so short is My Odd ( jtp l|l0 , 

“Wonderful Banner”, Ruciraketu “ instead of Shinso (■gtB. 
also Ruciraketu)', evidently both parts of the name are taken by 
the two translators in a different sense. It is also this Myodo 
who saw and heard the Golden Drum of Repentance in his dream. 

’ L.I., pp. 48 sq. As to hokkishu cf. Daijiten, p. 1588, 2 s. v., and p. 709, 
1 s. V. shishu. 

^ Cf. Eitel, Sanskr.-Chin. Diet. s. v.; Rosenberg, Vocabulary, p. 129, 2, 
s. V. Myodo. 



268 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


The names of the four Buddhas who manifested themselves in 
his room are Acala {Fudo, the “Immovable”, i. e. Akso- 

bhya (East), Ratnaketu {Hoso, ^ ) (South), Amitdyus (Mu- 

ryoju, ^ ^ ^) (West), and Dundubhisvara (Tenku-on, “Sound 
of the Celestial Drum”, ^^'^) (North), whose name is 
Mimydshd, ^ , “Delicate and Wonderful Voice”, in Dhar- 

maraksha's translation. ‘ 

King Suvarna-Bhujendra (here called KinryUshu, ) 

and his hymn are not mentioned there until the fifth chapter, 
seventh section ; - whereas the Konkwomyokyo deals with them 
in the first chapter, fourth section, immediately after the Bodhi- 
sattva Shinsd's hymn of repentance. 

The Golden Drum of Repentance is called Konkwomyo-ku 
( ^ ^ ^ ^) in the Saishookyo, where we read, in the beginning 
of the Hymn, sung by its mighty voice; 

“The Drum of Golden Light gives a wonderful sound. 
Everywhere it reaches the numberless thousands of worlds. 

It is able to extinguish the direst sins of the three evil roads’’ 
And all torment and danger of mankind. 

The rites of repentance (sangeho), practiced in accordance with 
the doctrine of the Konkwomyokyo, were first called Kichijo kekwa 
(§ 15), afterwards Konkwomyd-sen ( 1^) 0^ Konkwo- 

myo-sammai-sen ) ; samad/ii {sammai) was added 

because they were practiced intensely, with the whole heart. The 
T‘ien-t‘ai priests Chi-li (^ Nanjo App. Ill 51), the author 
of the commentaries Nos. 1549 and 1553, and of No. 1516, 
Konkwomyo Saisho sengi (compiled about A.D. 1020), and Tsun- 
shih (^ Nanjo App. Ill 47), who composed No. 1512, the 
Konkwomyo sembo hojo gi and 

' Saishookyo, Ch. i, sect. 2, p. 2a. 

^ Saishookyo, Ch. iv, sect. 7, pp. 166 sq. 

^ Sanzu, , those of fire, blood and swords (hell, animals, pretas). 

Saishookyo, Ch. n, sect. 4, p. 76. 



The Suvarna-prabhasa sutra. 


269 


No, 1513 (the Ojo jodo sen^wan gi, 

(written in A.D. 998 — 1022) used to perform these rites, exten- 
sively explained by them in their works. They were called Go- 
koku-konkwomyd-sammai-sen, since they served to protect the 
country (gokokit, ^ ). ' 

During the Ming dynasty a well-known T‘len-t‘ai priest wrote 
a work about these rites (quoted as Konkwomyo sen), namely 
Chi-hiuh (Chi-gyoku, ^ ;/|B^ , called Ling-fang, ^ ^ , after 
the mountain where he dwelt), who lived A.D. 1599—1654. “ 
This priest also wrote the “ Bommokyo sange gyoho” (abbreviated 
into Bomrnd-sembd) on the penitential rites based upon the 
Bommokyo, ^ (Nanjo No. 1087), the “Code da Mahd- 

yana” (De Groot). 


§ 8. The Bitssetsu Kwan Fiigen Bosatsii gyoho kyo mm 
^ ^ ^ ^ Tf ^ “Sutra spoken by the Buddha 

on the rites of meditation on the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, 
quoted as Kwan-Fugengyd or Fugen-kwangyo {Nanjo No. 394), 
and translated by Dharmamitra, A.D. 424 — 441. 


This Mahayana sutra is also called Shiitsiijin kudokii kyo 
( ffl ■* «) or “Sutra on the manifesting and deepening 

of meritorious virtue”. Dharmamitra, ^ ^ ^ whose name 
is translated into was a sramana from Cabul, who lived 

A.D. 356 — 442, arrived in China A.D. 424, and translated Buddhist 
works A.D. 424 — 441 (Nanjo, App- 11 75). Two other translations, 
one by GTtamitra of the Eastern Tsin dynasty (A.D. 302 — 376, 
Nanjo No. 46) and one by KumarajTva, who translated A.D. 402-412, 
were lost very early. It explains the rites of repentance of the 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 498, 1, s. v. Konkwomyo sanimai sen. 

^ Daijiten, p. 498, 2, s. v. Konkwomyosen; p. 1192, s. v. Chigyoku. 

3 Daijiten, p. 1641, 2, s. v. Bommo sentbo. Cf. the fifth of the 48 secondary 
commandments given in that sutra, translated in A.D. 406 by Kumarajlva. 



270 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


sins of the six “roots” (rokkon, eyes, ears, nose, tongue, 

body, and mind) by means of the meditation on the Bodhisattva 
Samantabhadra. Thus it is the counterpart of the 28th chapter 
of the Hokkekyo {Saddharma pundarika sutra), entitled Fugen 
Bosatsu kwanhotsu-bon, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ fj’ , or “Chapter 
on the exhortation (of the worshippers of the final period of the 
Law, masse no gybja, ^ ) by the Bodhisattva Saman- 

tabhadra (who came from the East to admonish all living beings 
to worship the Saddharma pundarika). For this reason the Tendai 
school made the Kwan-Fugengyd the kekkyo (ig«. “closing 
sutra”) of the Lotus sutra, expounded after the main text, the 
Muryogikyo (^ ^ ^ Amitartha sutra, No. 133) being its 

kaikyo ( “opening sutra”). Together they are called the 
Hokke sambu (^^^^) or “Three Books of the Lotus”. 
Moreover, the Kwan-Fugengyo forms the base of the Hokke sembo 
or “Rites of Repentance of the Lotus”, performed 
by the priests of the Tendai sect. ' 

After having explained the Saddharma pundarika sutra, the 
Buddha replies to Ananda’s question and says that after his 
Parinirvana all living beings must practise the Kwan-Fugengyo 
in order to be able to understand the Hokke sammai 
Samadhi or deepest meditation on the Lotus). 

In order to see by meditation the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra 
appear in full majesty, seated upon a white elephant and multi- 
plied in 500 shapes, and to hear him explain the Law and the 
way of purifying the six organs of sensation {rokkon 
shojo) by the rites of repentance, those who read the 
Mahdydna sutras and practice the Mahayana doctrine and who 
wish to behold Samantabhadra, Prabhutaratna Buddha’s pagoda 
{Tahoto), Sakyamuni and all the other Buddhas who divide them- 

' Daijiten, p. 350, 2, s. v. Kwan-Fugengyo ; p. 398, 1 , s. v. kekkyo, and 
p. 160, 3, s. V. kaikyo-, Daijii, III, p. 3963, 2, s. v. Fugen-kwangyo. As to the 
Hokke sanjuko, the meeting devoted to these three sutras, cf. below, Ch. viii, 
§ 16, B; Ch. XVI, § 10. 



The Kwan-Fugengyo {No. 394). 


271 


selves into numberless bodies, and to obtain purity of their six 
organs, must worship the Buddhas of the ten quarters and 
practice the rites of repentance six times, thrice in 
the day-time and thrice at night. By means of this repentance of 
the evil deeds of the six organs and this meditation on the 
Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, the six organs (and senses) shall 
be purified. 

In a gatha, pronounced by the Buddha on the purifying power 
of repentance, the last lines refer to the meditation upon the 
"Real Nature" {jisso, ^ ) (of all dharmas), because the whole 

sea of obstacles, consisting in deeds {gosho), arises from erroneous 
thoughts. If one ponders on the “Real Nature" (i. e. on Emptiness), 
all sins disappear like hoar-frost and dew, absorbed by the rays 
of the Sun of Wisdom. ' 

At the end of the sutra the Buddha explains to Ananda the 
five kinds of repentance {go sange). 

The first is that of the warriors and landlords {ksatriya and 
kulapati, mmm±> setsuri koji), who with a sincere heart 
must take care not to slander the Triratna or hinder the monks 
or cause evil difficulties for the sake of Brahmans, and who must 
“bind their thoughts” and practice the six methods of thought, 
as well as make offerings to those who keep the (prescriptions 
of) Mahayana. It is not necessary that they pay worship, but 
they ought to ponder on the “Emptiness of the first meaning” 
{daiichigi-ku), i. e. the 6th of the 18 kinds of Eipptiness. 

The second rite of repentance is that of those who love and 
support their parents and revere their teachers and elders, 

The third is that of those who rule their countries well, in 
accordance with the Saddharma, and who do not maltreat their 
peoples. 

' P. 135(7. This is the risan, dealt with below, same chapter, § 12, B. 

2 Cf. above Ch. vn, § 4, pp. 241 sqq. Kobo Daishi’s Mando-e and Manke-e 
as a thanksgiving for the “Four Favours”. Here we have a connection between 
thanksgiving, repentance and lights. 



272 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


The fourth sange is performed by those who on the six fast- 
days (of the month, namely the 8 th, 14 th, 15 th, 23th, 29th and 
30th days, on which the Four Deva Kings carefully examine the 
good and evil actions of mankind and evil demons lie in wait 
for them; on these rokusainichi, ^ 0 , they must be cautious 
in all matters and not take any food after noon) by ordinance 
forbid the killing of living beings within the territories under 
their sway. 

The fifth sange consists in an intense belief in the law of 
cause and effect and in the only true Road, and in the know- 
ledge that the Buddhas never expire. 

“Ananda”, concluded the Buddha, “if in future times there are 
persons who practice these rites of repentance, it shall be known 
that these persons ‘wear the dress of shame’ ( ^ , 

zangi-fuku, i. e. shame on account of their sins, one of the eleven 
virtues), that the Buddhas protect and assist them, and that they 
shall soon obtain perfect enlightenment (anuftara-samyaksam- 
bodhi)”. ' 

§ 9. The Daihokwo Butsa Kegonkyo Fugen Bosatsu gydgwan-bon 
i:k P ) or “Chapter 

on the actions and voivs of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, in 
the Mahavaipulya-Buddhavatarnsaka-sUtra” (Nanjo No. 89), i. e. 
the Avatamsaka-sutra of 40 chapters, translated by Prajha, 

A.D. 796—798. 

The 40th or last chapter of this Mahdydna text is entitled 
Nyu fushigi gedatsu kyogai Fugen gyogwan-bon, or “Chapter on 
the actions apd vows of Samantabhadra, having entered the 
wonderful world of salvation”. Here the ten great actions 
and vows of this Bodhisattva are explained (jushu gyogwan, 
+ ® ft ^ ). They are as follows. 


' Nanjo No. 394, New Jap. ed. XI 4, pp. 132 — 135. 



Samantabhadra’s ten great voivs. 


273 


1. Venerating the Buddhas (j[^ raikyo shobutsu). 

2. Praising the Buddhas shosan Nyoraf). 

3. Extensively practicing offerings ( , kwBshu kuyd). 

4. Repenting the obstacles {consisting) of {evil) deeds ('[fH 
^ sange gosho). 


5. Consenting to and rejoicing in the blessing virtues {of others) 

( IM ® ^ ^ kudoku). 

6. Praying {the Buddhas) to turn the Wheel of the Law 

shotemborin). 

7. Praying the Buddhas to stay in this world 
shobutsujuse). 


8. Always following the Buddha’s teachings 
iozui Butsugaku). 

9. Constantly benefitting all living beings ( 'Imlll ^ Sojun 
shujo). 


^10. Universally turning ail (his virtuous roots) towards (all 
living beings for their benefit, and to the Buddha road (^ ^ 
^ [pO > fiikai eko). 

The Shingon sect has combined these ten vows into five 
kinds of repentance {Shingon goke, ^ ^ ^ in the 
following way. 

1. Taking refuge (in the Buddha and his doctrine) 
kimyd). This refers to the first three vows. 

2. Repentance ( sange). This agrees with the fourth vow. 

3. Consenting to and rejoicing in {the virtues of others) (^ 
, zuiki). ‘ This is the fifth vow. 


‘ In the Lotus suira, Ch. xviu (Kern Ch. xvii) zuiki means joyful accep- 
tance of the words of the sutra; but here it is explained in this sense. The 
former meaning, also called acceptance of the Jiri, i. e. the opposition be- 
tween the material and the real world, is the sense of zuiki as the first of 
the five stages of the Tendai disciples (gohon deshi-i, 3l jlfl 
, Daijii, I, p. 1414, 2. 


18 



274 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


4. Exhorting and requesting (/. e. praying to) (the Buddhas) 

(Wt This regards the sixth, seventh and eighth vows. 

5. Turning towards (i. e. turning one’s virtuous roots towards 
all living beings, in other words using the good effects of one’s 
virtues for the benefit of others) ( 0 1^. eko, generally used 
for masses for the dead). This applies to the two last vows. ' 

Repentance (sange) is also the second of the nine upayas (^ 
ku-hoben), i. e. of the nine means of obtaining salvation 
(updya being the seventh of the ten patamitas, judo, 

“means of passing” to the other shore. Nirvana), practised by 
the mystic school before their secret ceremonies, namely: 

1. Sincere respect ( genjo kugyo) towards the 

Buddhas of the ten quarters (bowing before them and reciting 
magic formulae, shingon). 

2. Repentance (sange) for the sins of the past and present. 

3. Taking refuge ( kisa), in all the Buddhas of the 

ten quarters and of the three worlds (of the past, present and 
future). 

4. Self-sacrifice ( a «. ji-kuyo), meditation on one’s 
willingness to sacrifice one’s self to all the Buddhas. 

5. Setting forth a bodhi-heart ( hotsu bodaishin), 

meditation upon one’s own heart and the bad influence of its 
errors upon it, and upon the necessity of purifying it. 

6. Consenting to and rejoicing in the blessing virtues (of others, 

especially of the. Bodhisattvas) ziiiki kudoku). 

7. Exhorting and requesting the clouds of blessing power (^ ^ 
^ kwanjo toku-un), i. e. praying the Buddhas and Bodhi- 
sattvas that they may cause the rain of mercy and salvation to 
descend everywhere upon the suffering world. 

8. Requesting the Buddhas to stay in this world ( ^ 
la:. shobutsu juse), in order to save all living beings. 

9. Turning towards Bodhisattvaship ( 0 eko Bo- 


• Daijiten, p. 521 sq. 



Rokuji-sange of the Tendai sect. 


275 


satsu), namely causing one’s blessing virtues to promote the 
felicity of all living beings and at the same time "turning them 
to the Great Bodhi” (i. e. producing Enlightenment). ' 

Thus we see that these nine upayas of the Shingon sect (and 
of the mystic branch of the Tendai school) nearly agree with 
Samantabhadra’s ten great vows, and that repentance was con- 
sidered to be so important among them, that the Shingon sect 
even spoke of the “five kinds of repentance”. 

According to Chi-che ta-shi’s explanations in the Maka-shikwan 
) or “Great Quietude and Contemplation” “ (Nanjo 
No. 1538, A.D. 594) the Tendai sect differentiates the following 
“Five kinds of Repentance”, to be performed six times in the 
space of 24 hours and called Rokaji goke, or 

Tendai goke. 

1. Sg.nge, Repentance, explained as confessing (hotsuro 

sura, ^ ^) one’s sins of the past and correcting one’s future 
actions. As stated above (Ch. VIII, § 1), Chi-che ta-shi explained 
san as confession instead of as “asking forgiveness” (litt. 
patience). 

2. Kwanjo, “Exhorting and requesting”, i. e. praying 

to the Buddhas of the ten quarters and exhorting them to turn 
the Wheel of the Law. 

3. Zuiki, igl , “Consenting to and Rejoicing in” all the 
virtuous roots of others, and praising them. 

4. Eko, frij , “Turning towards”, i. e. turning all one’s own 
virtuous roots to the benefit of all living beings and to the 
Buddha road. 

5. Hotsugwan, ^ “Uttering Vows”, i. e. the "Four Great 

Oaths” (shiguzei, ) of all Bodhisattvas, namely: 

' Daijiten, pp. 305 sq. 

2 Samafha vipaSyana. “Stopping” is used here in the sense of Quietude, 
Meditation, and “Observing” in the sense of Contemplation and true insight 
connected with it. Cf. Kern, Manual p. 60, where the Arhats are said to 
have these two attributes. Nanjo No. 1538, Ch. vii& (xiv), large ed. p. 15 sqq. 



276 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


a) Converting the innumerable living beings. 

h) Cutting off the inexhaustible sufferings (bonno) (i. e. the 
klesas, passions). 

c) Teaching the immeasurable doctrines (gates of the Law, 
homon). 

d) Completing the unsurpassable Buddha road. ' 

By virtue of these vows the four preceding virtuous actions 
are guided and directed. These four being intended to repent 
bad deeds and extinguish evil, they are all called methods or 
rites of repentance {keho, 

Towards the end of the Avatamsaka sutra of 40 chapters 
(Nanjo No. 89, Ch. XL, p. 1646) rebirth in Amitabha’s paradise 
is mentioned, whereupon Samantabhadra pronounces a\onggatha, 
four lines of which form the so-called sange-mon, 
or “Text of Repentance”, universally used in performing these 
rites. They run as follows: 


“All my evil deeds of the past 

Were based upon beginningless greed, anger and stupidity. 
The evil, born of my body, speech and thought, 

I now repent (repentantly confess, pratidesayani) it all. 


A similar sangemon is used by the Hongwanji branch of the 
Jodo Shinshu in its rites of repentance in honour of the twelve 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 360, 1, s.v. guzei. As to thGgoke cf. above this chapter, § 6. 
* Daijiten, p. 521, 3; Shusan yoshi, -jj^ q , Nanjo No. 1580, by 

Chi-li (^>H H^) of the T‘ien-t‘ai school (about A.D. 1020), New Jap. ed. 
XXXIII, 7, p. 496; large jap. ed. of Leiden, pp. 336 sq. 

^ Nanjo No. 89, Ch. XL, p. 1646; large ed. p. 106; the 29th — 32nd lines 
of the gatha. Cf. above, Ch. vni, § 1, p. 254, concerning this passage in 
Nanjo No. 1336 and 1142. 



Sange-mon of Samantabhadra. 


277 


luminous manifestations of Amitabha {juni-kwo-rai saho, 

), namely: “I repent with my whole heart, I humbly 
adore {namah), ask forgiveness and utter repentance to the Buddhas 
of the ten quarters, I wish to eradicate all roots of evil” ( M 

shishin sange, namu sange juho-butsu, gwan metsu issai shozaikon), 
based upon the Rokuji raisan (::r^ “Adoration and 

Praise (of Amitabha) (repeated) six times (a day)”, a hymn in 
praise of this Buddha, written by the famous propagator of his 
cult, Shen-tao (^ Zends), who died A.D. 681. ' The same 
sect uses similar formulae of repentance in the Nyoho nembutsu 
saho or “Rites of praying (to Amitabha) 

according to the Law”. - 


§ 10. The Bussetsu goho shabetsu kyo ("^ ^ ^ 

or “Sutra spoken by the Buddha on the difference of the retri- 
butions of deeds” {Nanjo No. 739), translated by Gautama 
Dharmaprajna, A.D. 582. 

This is a Hinayana sutra (the other texts belonged to Maha- 
yana), which deals with the divers kinds of good and evil deeds 
and their retributions, each being enumerated in a group of ten. 
Thereupon the Buddha points out the great value of shame 
{zangi, ^ 'j^, hri-apatrapya, explained as being ashamed of 
evil deeds with regard to one’s self {zan) and to others (ki), but 
the difference between the two kinds of shame is also explained 
in other ways, e. g. towards heaven, and men)^ and repentance 
{sange) for those who have committed “deeds of hell”. If they 
do not know fear, shame, dislike, and repentance, and thus, 

' Cf. Daijiten, p. 1834, 2, s. v. rokuji raisan-, p. 1063, 2, s. v, Zendo. See 
below, Ch. VIII, § 16, C. 

2 Daijii, II, p. 1560, 1, s. v. sangemon. 

® Daijii, II, p. 1527, 3 sq., s. v. zangi. 



278 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


like Devadatta, repeat and increase their evil actions, they must 
remain in hell their full time and after being reborn they find 
an early death and on account of fresh sins fall into hell again. 
But if they know fear, shame, dislike and repentance, and thus reject 
wicked deeds, on account of their remorse tsuige) they 

have to stay in hell only half the time, and if afterwards in con- 
sequence of some deeds they enter it again, they leave it soon. 
If after their “deeds of hell” they are afraid, if a higher belief 
rises and increases in their hearts, if shame is born in their souls, 
if they dislike and hate and reject their sins, if they deeply 
repent them and do not commit them again, like 
King Ajatasatru (who had murdered his father) after a short 
period.of punishment in hell they obtain salvation (gedafsu). 

Then the Tathagata pronounced the following gatha: 

“If man commits serious crimes, 

But after those deeds severely reproaches himself. 

If he repents (sange) and does not commit them again. 

He can extirpate his original actions”. 

(» A ft e* a 

SI $!#)■' 

Here we see the idea, preached by the Buddha in a sutra 
belonging to the HTnayana doctrine, that shame and remorse, 
if felt intensely, are excellent means for obtaining forgiveness of 
sins and final salvation. No rites of repentance are, however, 
mentioned, which points to the fact that these were elaborated 
by the Mahayana schools, which used to give a wide expansion 
to ideas expressed in HTnayana in a simple and general way. 

As to King AJatasatru’s repentance and salvation, we found 
this dealt with in another HTnayanistic sutra (the DTrghagama 
sutra, Nanjo No. 545, Ch. XVII), ^ where Buddhayasas, the trans- 

' Nanjo No. 739, Large Jap. ed. p. 21. 

^ Cf. above, Ch. viii, § 1, Buddhayasas’ translation of Nanjo No. 545, 
Ch. xvii, No. 9, Cover xiii, 8, p. 876 (new ed.). 



Salvation obtained by means of shame and repentance. 279 


lator, together with Chuh Fuh-nien still used the ancient term 
kekwa instead of sange (A.D. 412 — 413), and in the Mahayanistic 
Mahaparinirvana sutra (Nanjo No. 114, Southern revision) ' (A.D. 
424 — 453). In the latter text (No. 113, Northern translation by 
Dharmaraksha II, Ch. XVII, Bongyd-bon VIII 4, p. 156, large ed.) 
the five “commandments of purity” (‘^ jokai) of the Bodhi- 

sattvas are enumerated, to wit: Belief (^), shame towards 
one’s self (|^), shame towards others ('jj^), virtuous 

knowledge ( ^ ^ and reverence for the commandments 

There also the term mukegon-shin 
or “a heart without regret” is used with regard to the Bodhi- 
sattvas, who by keeping the commandments of purity spontane- 
ously, without longing for it, obtain such a heart. 

§ 11. The Daijo honshd shinji kxvangyb 

^ ^ ) or MahGyana-jataka-cittabhumi-pariksa-sutra, “MahGyana 
Sutra on the contemplation of the processes of consciousness of 
the original lives {of the Buddha)" “ {Nanjo No. 955), translated 
by Prajha and others, A.D. 785—810. 

In the third chapter of this sutra the Buddha pronounces a 
very long gatha, which contains the following passage on the 
power of repentance. 

“If one is capable of repentance {sange) according to 

[the Law, 

All his defiling passions {klesas, bonno, litt. sufferings) 

, [are taken away. 

‘ Cf. above; Ch. viii, § 1; Nanjo No. 113, the Northern Book, and No. 114, 
the Southern revision. 

2 Cf. Dr. J. Rahder, Daiabhumika-sutra, p. xxviii, where, in accordance 
with Prof, de la Vallde Poussin, the title of this sUtra is given in this way 
instead of in that of NanjS. Dr. Rahder kindly explained to me the meaning 
of shinji, cittabhumi (processes of consciousness). 



280 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Like a kalpa-fire {kokwa, ^ destroys the world. 
Burning Mount Sumeru and the vast seas, 

Repentance can burn the firewood of defiling passions 

l(klesas), 

Repentance can give rebirth (djo) on the Deva Roads, 
Repentance can obtain the joy of the Four Dhyana Heavens, 
Repentance causes the precious Mani pearls to rain down, 
Repentance can prolong a Vajra-Wit (kongd-ju) (strong 

[as adamant), ' 

Repentance can give entrance into the Palace of Eternal 

[Joy (of Nirvana). 

Repentance can give escape from the prisons of the three 

[worlds (of desire, lust and greed). 
Repentance can open the flower of Bodhi. 

Repentance looks at the great round mirror (of wisdorri) 

[of the Buddhas, 

Repentance can reach the precious place {Nirvana). 

If one can repent according to the Law, 

He shall rely upon the practice of the two gates of 

[meditation. 

The first one is the gate that destroys crime by meditating 

[on Matter, 

The second is the gate that destroys crime by meditation 

[on the Absolute Nature. ^ 

There are three kinds of destroying crime by meditating 

[on Matter, 

The upper, middle and lower roots form those three 

[classes”. 

' Cf. Nanjo No. 1391, the Tantric Vajrayurdharany-adhyaya-kalpa, Kongo 
jumyo darani nenju ho l^lj # ^ ^ 11 ^ a "la- 

gic rite for lengthening life, translated by Vajrabodhi and Amoghavajra A.D. 
723 730 . 

No. 955, Ch. in, p. 126 (large ed.). 



Praise and kinds of repentance. 


281 


Then the Buddha explains those three classes of repentance, 
the so-called sombon sange, , treated in the next 

paragraph among the different kinds of repentance. 


§ 12. The different kinds of repentance. 

A. Uposatha ( ^ ^ , fasatsu) and Pravarand ( § , JishC). 


The Vinaya knows two kinds of repentance. The first is con- 
fession, based upon repentance and uttered on the occasion of 
the Uposatha {fasatsu is an abbreviation of 
transcription of Posadha, the would-be Sanskrit form of the 
word, ' the translations being , joju, “pure staying”, ^ 


zenshuku, “virtuous staying”. 


, joyo, 


“increasing and 


nourishing” (virtuous roots), and sai, “purification”)^ or 

Sabbath, held twice a month (on the 15th and 29fh or 30th, jn 
an assembly of at least four monks, when the Pratimoksa, “ the 
fundamental code of discipline common to all Buddhists monks, 
is recited and transgressions are confessed. “It is usual 
that the monks confess their sins to each other before the cere- 
mony. At the end of each section the reciter asks whether any 
of the brethren present has transgressed one of the articles. If 
so, the transgression must be openly confessed ; if not, the 
recital proceeds”. * 

The second kind of confession, based upon repentance, is that 
of the Pravdrana festival (^ jishi, “self-indulgence”, later 


' Cf. Kern, Manual, p. 74. 

2 Cf. Daijiten, p. 1521, 1, s. v. fasatsu. 

® Haradaimokusha or mokasha (/KX ), kaihon ) or kai- 

ritsu ( ), or betsu gedatsu “special salvation’', or 

shosho gedatsu ( ^ ^ ), “salvation obtained in all places”. 

■* Kern, Manual, p. 75; De la Vallde Poussin, La Morale bouddhique, 
pp. 205 sq. (la confession)-, p. 243. 



282 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


^ , zui-i, “following one’s will”), celebrated at the end of 
the summer-retreat {ke-ango, S^e). on the 15th of the 
seventh month (in China and japan). We dealt with this assembly 
in connection with the festival of the dead (see above, Ch. IV, 
§3, pp.68 — 75), and stated that the faults of others were pointed 
out freely, whereupon confession followed and expiation of sins. 


B. Repentance with respect to phenomena {jisan, ^ '[^)) ^rid 
to the real, absolute nature of all the dharmas {risan, ^ '1^), 

and the three classes of the former category {sambon, — 

As we learnt from the Cittabhumi-parTksa-sutra {Shinji kwan- 
kyo) (Nanjb No. 955) (see § 11, p. 280), the Buddha distinguished 
the “Gate that destroys crime by meditating on Matter” (^^ 
^ , kwanji metsuzai mon) from the “Gate that destroys 

crime by meditating on the Absolute Nature” (^^ ? 

kwanti metsuzai mon). Matter ji) are the sarhskrta-dhar- 

mas, u-i-ho, “existent things”, born of the twelve 

nidanas (in(n}en, mm) ; to Absolute Nature belong the 
asamskrta-dharmas, mu-i-ho, “things without exis- 

tence”, which are neither born nor extinguished. 

Jisan, '1^, “Material repentance”, consists in ceremonies 
with regard to phenomena, such as worshipping the Buddhas 
and reciting the sutras. All the Vinaya rites belong to it. The 
Cittabhumi-parlksa-sutra divides it into three classes {sambon {no) 
sange, = ,5?i ‘1^|), all called "the first commandment of 
purity” {daiichi shojo-kai, They are explained 

in the lines of the Buddha’s hymn, following those quoted above 

(§ 11, p. 280). ' 

1. Jokon, “Upper Roots”, i. e. the highest use of the 


' Nanjo No. 955, Ch. iii, p. 126, sq. (large ed.). 



Three classes of material repentance (jisan). 283 

five sensations (gokon, panca indriyani: faith, energy, 

memory, ecstatic meditation and w/isdom), when constantly a 
great energy must be displayed in searching for the (fulfillment 
of) the commandments of purity (jokai, mm Sorrow must 
be so intense, that blood is not only wept, but also 
emitted by the whole body. The thoughts must be fixed 
upon the places of the Triratnas of the ten quarters and upon 
all other living beings of the six gati. Lying on both knees 
{choki, and joining the palms of the hands (in prayer) 

with an undisturbed mind one must wash his heart by confession 
(hotsuro, ^) and strive for forgiveness and repentance 
{sange). '■ This is the strongest and highest form of materia] 
repentance. 

2. Chakon, , “Middle Roots”. In this case one un- 

consciously weeps blood and tears, intermingled and 
violent; sweat streams from his whole body, and he sorrowfully 
supplicates the Buddhas to forgive him, confessing all the deeds 
of his beginningless lives. 

3. Gekon, “Lowest Roots”. With a heart striving for 

the unsurpassable Bodhi, a stream of tears and the hair 
of the body standing erect, one repents deeply all his evil deeds of 
body, mouth and mind and confesses them to the Triratna’s of 
the ten quarters and to the living beings of the six gati, with 
a heart full of compassion and without sparing one's life. 

In his OJd raisan, ^ ^ li or “Adoration and praise 
(of Amitabha) in order to be reborn (in his paradise) Shen-tao 
(^^) (t 681), the propagator of the Amitabha doctrine 
in China, mentioned above (§ p. 277), adopted these three 
classes of repentance, stating that in that of the highest degree 
blood streams out of the pores of the body and from the 
eyes; in the middle class the body is covered with hot sweat 

' Cf. Daijii 11, p. 1559, 3, s. v. sange no golio, the five rites of repentance 
of the HTnayanists in the presence of a high-priest; see above, § 3, p 259, 
note. 



284 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and blood is wept; and in the third the whole body is hot 
and tears flow from the eyes. But at the same time Shen-tao 
lays stress upon the fact that the same effect (salvation) is reached 
by those, who, believing in Amitabha’s original vows, have a 
sincere heart, penetrated by this belief There- 

fore Shinran, ^ the founder of the Jodo Shinshu (1 174 — 1268), 
in his Koso wasan ^ 5^ ^) refers to Shen-tao’s statement, 
saying; “The Master of the School has said : 'If those who believe 
with a sincere heart have a ‘diamond heart’ {kongo-shin, a heart 
strong and unbreakable as a diamond), this is the same (i. e. they 
have the same result) as those who perform the repentance of 
the three classes’”. On account of these statements the Jodo 
Shinshu priest Soyo ^) (1723 — 1783) distinguished two 
kinds of repentance : the shodomon ( gg ^ ) no sange or 

“Repentance of the Gate of the Road of the Aryas” (i. e. Q.f the 
doctrines of the Hosso, Tendai and other sects), and that of the 
“Principal Gate” {Ydmon, ^ P^ ), i. e. of the Amitabha doctrine. ‘ 
Risan, ^ “Repentance with regard to the Absolute Nature 
of all the dharmas”, is explained by the Buddha in the same 
gatha in Ch. HI of the Cittabhumi-parTksa-sutra (NanjO No. 955), 
after the lines (of seven characters each) devoted to the three 
classes of the jisan or material repentance. If one meditates, 
dressed in new, pure garments and sitting cross-legged, with 
correct thoughts free from the nidanas, and entirely concentrating 
his mind upon the Dharmakaya ^ ^ , myohoshin) of the 
Buddhas, he begins to understand that the real nature of all 
dharma’s is Emptiness {sunyata, ku), which cannot be grasped, 
and that all sins are originally empty too. If one meditates day 
and night upon this Wonderful Absolute Emptiness, all his sins, 
obstacles on the road to salvation, are taken away. This is called 
the “highest keeping of the commandment of purity” (^ h. 

saijo Jijokai). If one sees and knows the emptiness 


' Cf. Daijii, II, p. 1556, s. v. sange. 



Jisan and risan. 


285 


of reality, he can destroy all his serious sins, like as a severe 
storm by spreading a fierce fire can burn down innumerable 
plants and trees. Meditation upon Reality is called the “Secret 
and Principal Gate of the Buddhas” ( ^ ^ , shobutsu 

hiyo-mon). ' 

Chi-che ta-shi ^ ^ (A.D. 531 — 597) calls jisan 

repentance of the road of sufferings kudo) and of that 

of deeds godd), whereas risan is repentance of the road 

of the klesas bonnodo). - in another work ^ the same 

patriarch of the T‘ien-fai sect refers to the words of the Fugen 
kwangyo (Nanjo No. 394, cf. above, § 8, p. 271) and says that 
risan is meant by the last lines of the Buddha’s hymn ; * “If 
you wish to repent, you must sit in a correct attitude and think 
upon the Real Nature; then all your sins can be absorbed and 
removed by the Sun of Wisdom as hoar-frost and dew. There- 
fore you ought intensely to repent of the six sensations”. As to 
Jisan, this is purifying one’s self from the sins of body, mouth 
and mind by confessing them to the images of the saints, six 
times within the space of day and night, without hiding any- 
thing and without again committing sins. Thus the ceremonies 
of repentance, mentioned in the sutras, dealt with in the preceding 
paragraphs, as well as those mentioned in the Sutra on the 
meditation on the Bodhisattva Akdsagarbha (Nanjo No. 70, 

Kwan Kokuzo Bosatsu kyo, 3 leaves, trans- 
lated A.D. 424 — 441 by Dliarmamitra, App. If 75) (worship of 
the Buddhas of the ten quarters and invocation of the names of 
35 Buddhas for one to seven days, and special invocation of the 
name of "Akasagarbha of Great Compassion” during three times 

' Nanjo No. 955, Ch. in, large ed. p. 14. 

^ Nanjo No. 1538, Maka shikwan, Ch. ii 2, quoted Daijii, II, p. 1555, 1, 
s. V. sange. 

^ Nanjo No. 1569, Shikyogi, quoted ibid. 

■* Nanjo No. 394, p. 135n, (new ed.). 



286 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


seven days, in order to take away all sins for ever), all those 
ceremonies pertain to “material repentance”. 

Jisan is the so-called saho-seti'i^ or “ceremonial 

repentance”, and the shuso-sen, '|^, or “repentance con- 

sisting in the (erroneous) apprehension of “appearances”, “visions” 
(of the safnskrta-dharmas, things which are born and die). 

Risan is the musho-sen, ^ ^ or “repentance concerning 
the unchangeable Absolute Nature of the asahiskrta-dharmas, 
which neither are born nor die. 

C. The three kinds of rites of repentance 
{sansha sembo, ^ ^ ^ ). 

These are expounded by Chi-che ta-shi (A.D. 531—597, the 
founder of the T‘ien-t‘ai sect), and recorded by his principal 
disciple, Kwan-ting (A.D. 561 — 632), in Naiijo No. 1552, the 
famous commentary on the KonkwomyOkyo (No. 127), entitled 
Konkwomyokyd mongu, ^ ^ “(Explanation 

of) words and sentences in the Suvarna-prabhasa sutra” (Ch. 111). 
These three kinds, already mentioned in the preceding paragraph, 
belong to Hinayana as well as to Mahdydna, and are called as 
follows. 

1. Saho-sen, or “Ceremonial repentance” (cf. above). 

2. Shuso-sen, or “Repentance consisting in grasping the , so, 
i. e. the “appearances”, “visions”, namely of the samskrta-dharnias 
(cf. above). 

3. Musho-sen, or “Repentance concerning the niusho, things 
which have neither birth nor death, the asamskrta-dharmas, be- 
longing to the unchangeable Absolute Nature. 

The two former are, as stated above, jisan, the latter is risan. 

1. The saho-sen of Hinayana are the rites of confession and 
repentance of the monks according to the Vinaya, by which 
they are purified from their sins {Uposatha and Pravarana). 

2. The shuso-sen of Hinayana are the so-called sasO-sen, 



Three kinds of rites of repentance (sembo). 287 

or “Repentance practised by forming visions”, in the 
Agama sutras (Nanjo Nos. 543 and 545), virhere e.g. a man who 
has committed the sin of lewdness is purified by forming a vision 
of the mouth of a poisonous snake and entirely concentrating 
his thoughts upon this subject. 

3. The musho-sen of HTnayana is the so-called kwanku-sen, 
or “Repentance by means of meditation on Emptiness” 
(i. e. on the shinku, ^ or “Real Emptiness”, the Absolute 
Nature). 

1. The saho-sen of Mahayana are the ceremonies of repen- 
tance practiced by the adherents of this creed. 

a) The ceremonies of 800 days in honour of Akasagarbha 

(Kokuzo zushi, ^ ^ ^ lH])’ 21 days, cf. Nanjo 

No. 70, the short Sutra on the meditation on the Bodhisattva 
Akasagarbha). 

b) The Hanju-zammai ( ^ ^ ) {Pratyutpanna-samadhi ; 

hanju is translated into ^ because the Buddhas appear 
when this samadhi is practised), also called jogyodo, 

“Perpetual ceremony”, because it is performed without interruption 
for (seven or) ninety days. The Tendai sect calls it jogyb- 
sammai, or “Perpetually moving samadhi'’, the 

character ^ being used here in the sense of gyosen, 

“going round”, to indicate that it is not a “sitting samadhi” or 
za-sammai It is one of the four kinds of samadhi, 

shishu-sammai (pgas#) of the Tendai sect, namely joza, 
Jbgyo, hangyd-hanza and higyo-hiza-sammai 

or "Perp^u^y 

perpetually moving, half-moving half-sitting, and neither moving 
nor sitting samadhi” (the last having neither a fixed method nor 
a fixed period). The jogyo or hanju-zammai is divided into three 
kinds, with regard to body, mouth and mind ; in the first the 

' This act of repentance consists of doing the unclean work of plastering 
and cleansing privies {zushi), cf. No. 70, p. 5, b, 2. 



288 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


pradaksina circumambulation of the altar is made in silence, in 
the second with continual invocation of Amitabha (to whom they 
are all devoted), and in the third with meditation on him and 
his 32 laksanas or bodily marks ; to invoke Amitabha in this 
way has the same beneficial effect as the invocation of all the 
Buddhas of the ten quarters. ' 

c) The Daihi-sen, ± m or “Repentance in worship of 
the Great Compassionate One”, also called Daihi-sengi ('^). 
This is an abbreviation of Shutsuzo Daihi sembo, 

and another term for Senju Sengen Daihishin-ju gyoho 

<T ^ T SR * tt pjl « ft ) or “Rite by means of the 
magic formula {dharani) of the Thousand-armed Thousand-eyed 
Great Compassionate One’s Heart”, i. e. of the Thousand-armed 
Avalokitesvara, Senju Kwannon. This rite, based upon the Senju- 
^ ^ ^ (Nan jo No. 320) (translated by Bhagavaddharma(?) 
of the T'ang dynasty, A.D. 618 — 907, the exact date being unknown), 
is explained by the T‘ien-t‘ai priest Chi-li (:^fia’ called pj 

about A.D. 1020 (Nanjo No. 1517, T + SR;^ 
f& Ai' tr ft )• ’ This magic formula, called Daihi-ju, 

or “Dharani of the Great Compassionate One”, when 
recited during seven times seven (49) days, causes the Buddhas 
of the ten quarters to appear and obliterate all sins. “ 

of) The Hokke sembo he. the Hokke sammai 

gyobo ( ^ ^ ^ ^ o*" “Rite of Samadhi of the Sad- 

dhorma pundarTko”, explained by Chi-che ta-shi (A.D. 531 — 597) 
in his Hokke sammai sengi ('j^-^) (Nanjo No. 1510), and 
practised by the Tendai sect during 21 (three times seven) days 
(cf. also Nanjo No. 135). 

' Daijii, II, p. 2171, 2 aq., s. v, shishu-zammai-, Daijlten, p. 1435, 2, s. v. 
hanju-zammai. Cf. below, Ch. vui, § 16, C, Amida sembo. 

2 Daijiten, p. 1 160, 1, s. v. daihisen. 

3 Daijii, in, p. 3211, 1, s. v. daihi-ju. 

■* Daijii, III, p. 4101, 1, s. v. hokke sembo; Daijiten, p. 1597, s. v. hokke 
sammai (sengi). 



Three kinds of rites of repentance (sembo). 


289 


e) Hodo sange or Hodo-sen or 

Hodo satnmai i. e. Repentance by means of 

Samadhi, based upon the Daihodo-darani-kyo 

) (Nanjo No. 421, Mahavaipulya-dharani-sutra, translated 
A.D. 402 — 412 by Fah-chung, Nanjo App. II 65) of the 

Northern Liang dynasty. In this siitra at the request of ManjusrT 
the Buddha explains all kinds of magic formulae {dharani) and 
the rites of repentance to extinguish sins and lengthen life. 

Hwui-sze (Eshi zenji, ^ ^ JJi^ Bflj ) of the “Southern Peak” 
(Nan-yoh, Nangaku, i e- Heng-shan, ^ |JLl , the Southern 

of the “Five Peaks”, on the West side of the river Siangin Hunan 
province), called Nan-yoh ta-shl or “Great Master of the Southern 
Peak”, the third patriarch of the T‘ien-t‘ai school, who lived 
A.D. 514—577 (Nanjo App. Ill 10), ' practised these rites for 
seven ’ years and thus obtained purity of his six senses {rokkon 
shojd). His pupil Chi-i, i. e. Chi-che ta-shi, the founder 

of the T'ien-fai school in China (A.D. 531 — 597), wrote a work 
entitled Hodo sammai gyobo, or “Rules 

for the practice of Vaipulya-samadhi” (Nanjo No. 1573), i. e. his 
pupil Kwan-ting, ^ (A.D. 561 — 632) published it, recording 

the oral explanations of his teacher. These rites used to be con- 
tinued for seven days. - 

2. The shuso-sen of Mahay an a destroys crimes in the fol- 
lowing ways: 

a) In the Vaipulyas ( ^ ^ , hodo), by striving for the “Twelve 
Dream-kings”, jjuni mu-o. These 'kings are explained 

and their names given in the second chapter of the Mahavaipulya- 
dharani-sutra (NanjS No. 421, mentioned above, sub 1 e); they 

' Cf. Daijii, I, p. 354, 3, s. v. Eshi, where he is said to be the second 
patriarch of the Tendai school. 

^ Nanjo No. 1552, new ed. XXXIII 1, Ch. ill, p. 916; ct. Daijii,\l, p. 1555,2, 
s.v. sange; HI, p. 3218, 2, s.v. Daihodo-darani-kyo; Daijiten, p. 1390, I, s.v. 
hodo-sen. 


19 



290 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


are the protectors of that sutra and only by means of these kings 
may the magic formulae be obtained ; thus in dreams magic power 
is acquired which enables one to fly through the air and dive 
into deep waters. ' 

6) In the Bodhisattva rules {Bosatsu-kai, by seeing 

the Kekwo-macho, If. “Stroking the top of the head 

(i. e. the Buddha’s giving the prediction of Buddhahood 
iB) Juki) to his disciples) of ‘Flower-luster’”, i. e. of Sariputra 
(his future Buddha name being Kekwo) (as described in the Lotus 
sutra, Fasc. II, Ch. Ill, ^ 

c) In the Akasagarbha rites by the appearance of the “vision 
of the arm of the mudra of the singing voice” 
shosho-impi-so ) . 

Although the rites are not explained directly, it is again a 
material way of obtaining freedom from sin by repentance.^ 

3. The mushd-sen of Mahay an a is the meditation on Emp- 
tiness and the Absolute Nature, spoken of at the end of the 
Buddha’s hymn in the Fagen kwangyd (Nanjo No. 394, see above, 
§ 8, p. 271); by sitting in a correct attitude and meditating upon 
this subject all sins are removed by the sun of Wisdom, as hoar- 
frost and dew disappears by the rays of the sun. This is the 
risan, dealt with above. It takes away the e-zai, ^ or 
“sins against Wisdom”, destroys the obstacles of retribution 
(hosho, ^ [^) and the obstacles of deeds (caused by bad deeds) 

(gosho, 0^ I^)/' and extinguishes the mumyo (^1^, avidya^ 
lack of insight in the material and the absolute Nature {jiri, ^ 
3^) of the dharmas). If the mumyo is taken away, all the other 
bound (Jilesas) are also exhausted, and the second station of 
perfect instruction (the stage of purity) is reached. Therefore 
Musho-sen is also called dai sange or “Great Repentance”, s/z5^on- 
sange, mmmm> or “Sublime {yyuha) Repentance”, or 

' Daijii, III, p. 4322, 2, s.v. mu (dream). 

* Daijiten, p. 382, s.v. Kekwo Nyorai. 



Three kinds of rites of repentance (sembo). 291 

muzaiso sange (* W#), “Repentance of the Crimeless Vision”. 
It is the “correct repentance” shosan), whereas the other 

two are only “auxiliary repentances” mu , josan). Of the latter 
the saho-sen extinguishes the imusa-zai ( ^ ^ fP ), or 
musa-zai, i. e. the slighter sins which are “avoided and not com- 
mitted” (i. e. latent, potential vices), ' but not the shozai ( #P). 
“sins of the original nature” (transgressions of the four most 
important commandments against slaying, theft, lust and falsehood). 
The shuso-sen, however, obliterates the sins of the original nature, 
and at the same time also the imusa-zai, lighter sins, disappear; 
this is compared to cutting a tree, by which action also the 
branches and leaves wither and die. The root of the tree, however, 
remains, and is only removed by the highest kind of repentance, 
the mushd-sen. '•* 

a 

§ 13. Penitential services held in China during the Liang and 

Ch‘en dynasties {A. D. 502 — 581), according to Tao-siien's 
Kwang-hung-ming-tsih {Nanjo No. 1428, written 
A.D. 650—667). 

Tao-stien, the founder of the Vinaya school in China 

(Nanjo App. Ill 21, A.D. 596 — 667) in his “Enlarged collection 
of (miscellaneous writings on) the propagation and illustration 
(of the Buddha’s doctrine)” ( Kwang-hung-ming- 

tsih, Kwokomyoshu, Nanjo No. 1481, written, A.D. 650 — 667, 
Ch. XXVIII, sect. 9, pp. 2916— 296a) gives the ceremonial texts 
of the penitential services held in China at the time of the Liang 
and Ch'en dynasties (A.D. 502 — 5^7 and 557 — 581). Here we 
find the terms kezai (‘|^ kekwa ( ) and sange ('f^ *|^); 

' Avijnapti, cf. De la Valine Poussin, Abhidharmakosa, Ch. i, p. 20, Ch. iv, 
pp, 3 — 31, to which passages Dr. Rahder kindly drew my attention with 
regard to the term musa-zai. 

2 Nanjo No- 394 {Fugen kwangyb, see above, § 8, p. 271); Nanjo No. 1552 
iKonkwdmybkyd mongu), Ch. iii, pp. 91 sqq. 



292 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the ceremonial texts are called sammon or kekwa-mon. 

First we read of a Nehan-san or “Nirvana repentance” service 
held by order of a Liang Emperor on behalf of his subjects in 
the Shui-ying hall of the T‘ung-t‘ai monastery, for which he is 
officially thanked by his ministers. Then follows a rokkon sammon 
or “Text of repentance (to purify) the six senses”, also an official 
document of the Liang dynasty, and a “Text of repentance for 
pride” of the same period. Another “sangemon" is followed by 
a “sammon” by means of which the statesmen requested the 
Emperor Wu Ti of the Ch'en dynasty (A.D. 557 — 559) to give 
a great offering to the sanzon (three Saints, i. e. the Triratna) 
and clothes to the monks, all the expenses of which would be 
redeemed to the Emperor and the feudal lords. Evidently this 
refers to a Musha-daie (a “Great Limitless Meeting” or “Great 
Festival of Deliverance, moksa”), similar to the meeting held by 
the Emperor Wu Ti of the Liang dynasty in A.D. 527 in the 
T'ung-fai monastery (cf. above, Ch. VI, § 3). Then follow a 
Maka-hannya (Mahaprajhd) sammon of the Liang Emperor Kao-tsu 
(the Exalted Founder of the Dynasty, i. e. Wu Ti) and a Kongo- 
hannya sammon of the same monarch (here called Wu Ti) (A.D. 
502 — 549); a Sho-Tenno hannya sammon (^ ^ the “Con- 
quering Deva King”, cf. Nanjo No. 9, a translation, made in. 
A.D. 565, of the sixth sutra of Nanjo No. 1, the Mahaprajna- 
paramitd sutra, on which this penitential rite was based ; the 
Ninno Tenno, 3E. are mentioned in the preceding 

sammon, and the Ninno in this text) of the Ch'en Emperor Stien Ti 
(A.D. 569 — 582) ; a 'Myoho-renge-kyo sammon of the Ch'en Emperor 
Wan Ti (A.D. 560 — 566), based upon the Lotus sutra; a Kon~ 
kwomyo sammon of the same Emperor, based upon the Suvarna- 
prabhdsa sutra; a Daitsu hokwd sammon , Great 

Universal Vaipulyd), and a Hodo darani sai-sammon (^ ^ 

Vaipulya dharani purification) of the same Emperor, 
evidently based upon vaipulya sutras like Nanjo No. 89 (see 
above, § 9, p. 272); a Yakushi sai-sammon or “Purifying peni- 



Penitential services held in China in the sixth century. 293 


tential text in worship of Bhaishajyaguru” of the same Emperor, 
based upon the Yakushikyo (Nanjo No. 171); a Shara sai-saminon 
sdla trees; the Lord died in the Sala grove at Kusi- 
nagara) of a mage dai-e (1®^^''^, a “Great Limitless 
Meeting”, or Musha dai-e, ^ ^ attended by priests and 

laymen; originally a gonen-daie or “Great Five years-meeting”, 
said to have been held for the first time by King Asoka a hundred 
years after the Buddha’s death, cf. above, Ch. VI, § 3, p. 194), 
celebrated by the same Emperor in the Ta-kih-tien {Daigokuden) 
of his Palace; and, finally, a Muge-e shashin summon 
shashin, is “throwing away one’s body”), a great sacrificial cere- 
mony celebrated by the same Emperor in the “Front-building” 
of his Palace on behalf of the soul of the Empress-Dowager. ' 

Thus we see the great importance attached to those penitential 
services by the Chinese Emperors of the sixth century A.D. In 
the same age Wang Sang-iii of the Liang dynasty 

wrote a Sange raibutsu-mon (;|^ or “Text of Repentance 

in worship of the Buddhas”, given in Ch. XV of the same 
Chinese work. - 

§ 14. Yakushi-kekwa ( ^ ^lU *[^ >|^ ) or Rites of Repentance 

in worship of the Buddha Bhaisajyaguru, performed in Japan 
A.D. 686 or 744—842. 

In China important rites of repentance were based upon the 
“Sutra on the contemplation of the two Bodhisattvas Bhaisajya- 
rdja and Bhaisaj'ya-samudgata” , Yalcu-o ^) and Yaku-jo 
(ii±), “Medicine-king” and “Medicine-Supreme One", two 
brothers (also belonging to Amitabha’s retinue) ^ who, like Yakushi 

' Nanjo No. 1481, Ch. xxviii, sect. 9, pp. 291&— 296a. 

^ Nanjo No. 1481, Ch. XV, sect. 3a, pp. 1856 sq. Cf. the Raibutsu sange 
of A.D. 854 and 855 (Xll 18) in Japan {Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xvi, 
pp. 551, 553). 

^ Cf. the present writer’s treatise on The Bodhisattva Ti-tsang {Jizo) in 
China and Japan, p. 122; Butsuzo-zui II, p. 9a. 



294 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Nyorai, represented the healing and purifying power of the Sun. 
Their magic formulae and the names of 53 Buddhas of the past 
were recited by the monks who performed these ceremonies, 
which are described by Prof, de Groot in his Code du Mahayana 
en Chine (pp. 185 sqq.). The sutra was translated in A.D. 424 
by Kalayasas; it is Nanjo No. 305 (1 fasc.) (Bussetsu kwan Yaku-o 
Yaku-jd ni-Bosatsukyo). 

In Japan the Yakushi-kekwa rites were performed at the Nara 
Court and in the first part of the Heian period (in the eighth 
and the first half of the ninth century). In A.D. 686 (VI 19), when 
the Emperor Temmu was very ill (he died three months later, 
IX 9), officials were sent to the Temple of Kawara in order to 
offer up lanterns and to arrange a great feast of repentance (daisai 
no kekwa, This was in accordance with the 

passage of the Bodhisattva-pitaka-sutra (Nanjb No. 1103), quoted 
above (Ch. VII, § 3, p. 239 ; VIII, § 3, p. 258), where the Buddha pre- 
scribed the offering of ten thousand lamps, flowers, fruits and leaves 
to ten Buddhas of ten worlds of the ten quarters, as an act of 
repentance and a way to obtain forgiveness of sins. And on the 
second day of the seventh month of the same year “the Sojo 
and Sozu (the Bishops) came into the Palace, and performed a 
penitential service” {kekwa). ' Although it is not stated, the author 
of the article on kekwa in the Bakkyd daijii^ says that this must 
have been a Yakushi kekwa, i. e. a rite of repentance in worship 
of the Buddha Bhaisajyaguru. This "Medicine-Master”, the Sun 
in her healing power, was indeed the proper Buddha to be in- 
voked in order to cure the Emperor by obliterating his sins, and 
to receive an offering of many lamps for this purpose. In A.D. 
653 (Hakuchi 4) (sixth month) the Emperor Kotoku had ordered 
a large number of Buddha and Bodhisattva images to be placed 
in the Kawara sanctuary; ^ we may be sure that also Yakushi 

' Nihongi, Ch. xxrx, p. 542; Aston, II, pp. 377 sq. 

^ Daijii, I, p. 1002, 1, s.v. kekwa. 

® Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 454; Aston, II, p. 244. 



Yakushi-kekwa (Sth century A.D.). 


295 


Nyorai and his attendants were among them, so that he could 
be worshipped in this temple. 

In A.D. 720 {Yoro 4, VIII 2) the Empress GenshS had the 
Yakushikyo (Nanjo No. 171, Huen-tsang’s translation, made in 
A.D. 650) (cf. above, Ch. I, § 10, p. 18, and below, Ch. XIV) read for 
one day and one night in 48 Buddhist temples in and near the 
capital, in order to save the life of the Right Minister Fujiwara 
no Fubito, but he died the next day. In accordance with the 
sutra (cf. below, Ch. XIV, § 1) two days before a great amnesty 
had been proclaimed throughout the Empire on his behalf, but 
we do not read about Yakushi kekwa. ‘ 

In A.D. 721 (V 6) the Dajo Tenno (the Empress Gemmei, who 
had abdicated in 715) was ill. Her daughter, the Empress Gensho, 
ordered that a hundred pure men and women should become 
monk^ and nuns and perform rites on behalf of her mother, and 
refuge was taken in the Triratna. One day before her death 
(XII 6) great amnesty was proclaimed and tendoku of sutras 
ordered in all the Buddhist temples of the capital and its sur- 
roundings, but it was all in vain. On the first anniversary of her 
death (A.D. 722, XII 7) on behalf of her soul the Kegon, Daishu, 
Nehon, Daibosatsu and Kwanzeon sutras were copied, a great 
number of banners and utensils made, and 2638 monks and nuns 
invited to a vegetarian meal, arranged in all the Buddhist sanctuaries 
of the capital and the surrounding provinces. - No mention is made, 
however, of Yakushi kekwa-, the devout Empress Gensho evidently 

j 

did not know this rite. 

Her successor, Shbmu Tenno (A.D. 724 II 4 — 749 VII 2), 
although a fervent Buddhist and a great propagator and protector 
of the Buddhist doctrine, did not make use of the rites of repentance 
before A.D. 739 (VII 14), and then it was apparently Kichijo-kekwa, 
intended to promote the felicity of the Empire by causing good 
weather and good crops. This rite being based upon the Saishookyo 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. Viii, p. 123. 

^ Ibid., Ch. VIII, pp. 130, 135. 



296 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(Nanjo No. 126, Suvarna-prabhasa-sutrd), it is easily understood 
that this Emperor, who attached such a special importance to 
this sufra, of all rites of repentance chose first the Kichijo kekwa. 
In A.D. 726 (VI 15), when the Dajo Tenno, his aunt, the Empress 
Gensho, who had abdicated A.D. 724 (II 4) and lived till 748 
(IV 21), was ill, he ordered hojo, “release of living beings” 

(i. e. of animals, e. g. cormorants and falcons, and other animals 
caught and sold) as well as great amnesty, to be practised in 
all provinces. Fifteen men and seven women were made monks 
and nuns, messengers were sent with gohei to famous Shinto 
shrines, a Shaka image made, the Hokkekyo (Saddharma punda- 
rika sutra) copied, and a vegetarian entertainment given to the 
monks in Yakushiji, in short everything was (successfully) done 
to cause her recovery, but no mention is made of Yakushi kekwa. ' 

In A.D. 728 (Shinki 5, VIll 2) 177 Kwannon images were made 
and 177 chapters of sutras (probably the Kwannongyo) read 
during one day by means of tendoku in worship of the Buddha, 
in order to restore the health of the Prince Imperial, but neither 
on this occasion nor in A.D. 735 (TempyS 7, VllI 12), when a 
severe pestilence prevailed in the Dazaifu (Tsukushi, i. e. Kyushu) 
and the Kongo-hannyakyd {Vajracchedikd-paramita-sutra, Nanjo 
No. 10) was read in all the Buddhist temples of that part of the 
country, was Yakushi-kekwa performed. 

In A.D. 744 (Tempyo 16, XII 4), shortly after the erection of 
the frame pillar of Vairocana’s great image, the Daibufsu of Kogaji 
) in Koga district, Omi province, where the Emperor 
Shomu had his detached palace, and where he went in person 
and assisted in pulling a rope (a very meritorious deed) (A.D. 744 
XI 13), because the year before (A.D. 743, X 15) he had uttered 
a great Bodhisattva vow to make a bronze image of this Buddha, 
he ordered Yakushi-kekwa to be performed during seven days 
throughout the Empire. And in the night of XII 8 ten thousand 

‘ Ibid., Ch. IX, p. 157, A.D. 726, VI 15, VII 18, VllI 15. 

2 Ibid., Ch. X, p. 167; Ch. xn, p. 199. 



Yakushi-kekwa {8th century A.D.). 297 

lamps were lighted in Konshoji a Kegon 

shrine belonging to Todaiji, and on the Suzaku Road. ' As stated 
above (Ch. VII, § 3), this was the first time such an offering of 
“ten thousand lamps” took place in Japan, and it was also the 
first Yakushi-kekwa, officially indicated by this name. There was 
a close connection between the two Sun-buddhas Vairocana and 
Bhaishajyaguru, the offering of many lights to them in the last 
month of the year (originally to strengthen the sun), and repentance 
for sins (committed during the year which was approaching its 
end); it was all intended to drive away the demons of darkness, 
calamity and disease. 

In A.D. 745 (Tempyo 17, IX 19), when the Emperor Shomu 
was indisposed, at his command all the Buddhist shrines of the 
Capital and the Home provinces, and all the “pure places of the 
celebvated mountains” ( ^ ^ ill ^ ) performed Yakushi- 
kekwa] the inhabitants of all provinces had to release their falcons 
and cormorants (used in hunting and fishing), and 3800 men had 
to be taken up into the Buddhist order. At the same time he sent 
gohei and prayers to the idmons Shinto shrinks Kamo and Matsunoo 
jinja. The next day gohei were sent to Hachiman JinJa (in Usa); 
a hundred sets of the Daihannyakyd {Mahaprajhaparamitd-sutra, 
Nanjo No. 1, six hundred chapters each) had to be copied, and 
seven images of Yakushi Nyorai, 6 shaku 3 sun high, as well 
as seven copies of the Yakushikyo (each of one chapter) had to 
be made in the capital and in all the provinces. Moreover, three 
days later 600 monks were invited to the “Middle Palace” (of 
the Empress) in order to read the Daihannyakyo. ^ 

In A.D. 749 (Tempyo Shohb 1, I 1) the Emperor ShOmu pro- 
mulgated a New-year’s ordinance to the effect that during seven 
days (I 1 — 6) the Konkwomyokyo should be partially read (fe/zdoA’u) 
and kekwa (probably Kichijd-kekwa on account of the sutta 


' Ibid., Ch. VIII, pp. 130, 135. 
^ Ibid., Ch. XVI, p. 261. 



298 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


accompanying it) practised in all the Buddhist temples of the 
Empire; during that time the killing of living beings was for- 
bidden throughout the realm. ‘ 

In the same year (Interc. V 23) the Emperor abdicated, became 
a monk by the name of Shaman, and retired to Yakushiji, evidence 
of his having gradually become a devout believer in the blessing 
power of Bhaishajyaguru Buddha. ^ 

The Empress Koken (A.D. 749 VII 2 — 758 Vlil 1) was Shomu’s 
daughter. She was a devout Buddhist, and became a nun by 
the name of Takano Tenno when she abdicated in favour of 
Junnin Tenno (A.D. 758 VIII 1), but six years later the ambitious 
Hosso priest Ddkyo caused Junnin’s banishment to Awaji (A.D. 
764 X 9) and Takano Tenno’s reaccession to the throne by the 
name of Shgtoku Tenno (A.D. 765 I 1 — 770 VIII 4). The Buddhas 
specially worshipped by the Empress Koken were Vairocang and 
Bhaisajyaguru. The Shinto war-god Hachiman of Usa (Buzen) 
(after A.D. 781 called a “Great Bodhisattva”), “ whose oracle she 
consulted and obeyed in A.D. 769 with regard to her remaining 
on the throne instead of abdicating in favour of DokyS, was 
welcomed into the capital in the first year of her reign (A.D. 749, 
Tempyo ShohO 1, XII 18), and a new temple hall was made for 
him in the Nashiwara palace. South of the Palace. Forty monks 
were invited there to perform kekwa for seven days. Nine days 
afterwards (XII 27) a nun, priestess of Usa Hachiman, went to 
Todaiji, to pay reverence to Vairocana. The Empress, the Dajo 
Tenno (Shomu Tenno, her father) and the Empress Dowager 
went there also as well as all officials and people with family 
names (the gentry). Five thousand monks were invited to pay 
reverence to the Buddha Vairocana and to read sutras, whereas 
Chinese music and dances were performed in his honour and 
the Great God Hachiman (considered to be an avatara or mani- 

' Ibid., Ch. XVII, p. 277. 

^ Ibid., Ch, XVII, p. 286. 

® Shoku Nihon koki, Ch, i, Kokushi taikei Vol. Ill, p. 176; Ch. ii, p. 183. 



Yakushi-kekwa {8fh century A.D.), 


299 


festation of the third Sun-Buddha Amitabha, the setting sun), 
was venerated at the same time. ’ 

It is uncertain whether the kekwa rites, performed for seven 
days, as in the beginning of the year, were Kichijo kekwa, but 
we are inclined to suppose them to be Yakushi kekwa on account 
of the connection evident between the Vairocana and Hachiman 
cults on the one hand, and the Vairocana and Bhaisajyaguru 
cults on the other. Moreover, the Emperor Shomu had become 
a monk of Yakushiji, and shortly afterwards (A.D. 750, IV 4) 
the Empress Koken issued a proclamation, stating that she took 
refuge in the Yakushikyo and performed gyodo kekwa 
■It®), i.e. circumainbulation of the Healing Buddha’s image 
to worship him, and practice of Yakushi kekwa. She desired to 
purify the people from their sins and ordered a great amnesty 
througiiout the Empire. - 

The next year (A.D. 751, X 23) she again addressed her subjects, 
this time on behalf of her father, the Dajo Tenno ShCmu (who 
died five years later), because the latter was indisposed. For this 
reason she respectfully invited seven times seven wise monks 
to the New Yakushi temple {Shin- Yakushiji) in order that they 
should perform the rites for lengthening life {Zokumyoho, 
celebrated with five-coloured flags in worship of 
Yakushi Nyorai) during seven times seven days, and offered them 
vegetarian entertainments. She prayed that her father might be 
cured and his precious life lengthened. She further quoted the 
Yakushikyo and bestowed amnesty upon the people according 
to Buddha’s Law. ’ 


In A.D, 752 (Tempyo Shoho 4, IV 9) the Daibutsu of Nara, 

» 

Vairocana’s gigantic image, was completed, and the ceremony of 
the opening of its eyes took place with great splendour. The 
Empress personally went to Todaiji and led the civil officials in 


’ Cf. above, Ch. vi, B, § 5, pp. 214 sq.; Shoku Nihongu, Ch. xvii, p. 291. 
^ Ibid., Ch. xviii, p. 294. 

® Ibid., Ch. XVIII, p. 298. 



300 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


paying reverence to the great Buddha of All-pervading Light. Ten 
thousand monks were invited and a great vegetarian entertainment 
was given. All kinds of music, songs and dances accompanied 
this very important festival. ' A year later (A.D. 753, 111 29) the 
Ninnokyd was expounded in Todaiji, but the ceremony was in- 
terrupted by a heavy storm and delayed until IV 9, when again 
a tempest burst forth. ^ In A. D. 756 (XII 5) a hundred priests 
performed tendoku of the Ninnokyo in the same temple. “ 

In A.D. 754 (Tempyd Shoho 6, XI 8) the Empress Koken again 
issued a proclamation to request 49 (7 X 7) Buddhist priests to 
take refuge in Yakushi Rurikwd Butsu {Bhaisajyaguru Vaidurya- 
prabhasa Buddha) (the number seven being specially holy in the 
cult of this Buddha, who manifests himself in seven resplendent 
shapes, cf. Nanjo No. 172) and respectfully to make offerings to 
him in order to give rest and peace to “the two venerable per- 
sons” (her parents, Shomu TennS and his Consort Kwbmyo 
KwOgO (701 — 760), who in A.D. 749 after ShOmu’s abdication 
and retirement to Yakushiji had become a nun by the name of 
Mampuku), and to lengthen their precious lives. Again she quoted 
the Yakushi sutra, which prescribes to celebrate such a ceremony 
by hanging “life-continuing flags” (^^ zokumyoban, i. e. 

the zokumyo-shimban, the five-coloured flags used in 

worship of Bhaisajyagatu to lengthen the life of sick persons) 
and to light 49 (7 X 7) lamps (the sutra says “seven rows of 
lamps”, -4a 1^)- * At the same time she proclaimed partial 

amnesty throughout the empire. ® 

In A.D. 757 (Tempyo Hoji 1, V 2 — 8) there were vegetarian 
entertainments of 1500 priests in Todaiji, and rites of repen- 
tance ®). celebrated by order of the Empress Koken 

' Ibid., Ch. XViii, p. 299. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XIX, p. 303. 

^ Ibid.; Ch. xix, p. 317. 

* Cf. Daijiten, p. 1096, 1, s. v. zokumyd shimban and zokumyd-hd. 

® Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xix, p. 31 1 . 



Yakushi-kekwa (8th century A.D.). 301 

for seven days on the occasion of the first anniversary of her 
father’s death (he died A.D. 756, V 2). It was the custom to pay 
special attention to these anniversaries, called shuki, 

It is not stated in the Imperial Ordinance promulgated the same 
year (VIII 18), which rites of repentance were used for this pur- 
pose, but in view of the fact that the ceremony took place in 
Todaiji, and that in A.D. 744 Yakushi-kekwa (for seven days) 
and mando-e were held by order of the Emperor Shomu in con- 
nection with Vairocana and Todaiji, we may suppose that also 
this time the cults of the two Sun-Buddhas were joint. As stated 
above (Ch. VIII, § 7), in later times Shaka and Yakushi were 
the attendant Buddhas of Vairocana of Shakuzenji, a shrine in 
the compound of the Hosso sanctuary Hoko-in in Kyoto (A.D. 994). 

Many years elapsed during which very little mention was made 
of Yakushi and his cult. In A.D. 758 (VII 4), when the Empress 
Kbken’s mother was ill, she forbade the killing of living beings 
until the end of the year, but no Yakushi rites seem to have 
been used to cure her. - Neither under the reign of her successor, 
Junnin TennS (A.D. 758 — 764), nor under her second reign as 
ShStoku Tenno (A.D. 765 — 770) were Yakushi-kekwa performed, 
but Kichijo-Ten-kekwa were practised throughout the country in 
767, I 8 and VIII 16, during 7 and 27 days, and the Saishookyd 
as well as the Daihannyakyo were greatly venerated. 

The Emperor Konin (A.D. 770—781), who in his proclamation 
of A.D. 773 (Hoki 4, XII 25) referred to the YakushikyD and in 
accordance with this sutra invited wise Buddhist priests to a 
vegetarian entertainment, also requested them ‘to perform gyddo, 
=fi^. the circumambulations which in A.D. 750 (IV 4), in the 
ordinance of the Empress Kbken, were combined with Yakushi- 
kekwa', on both occasions great amnesty was bestowed upon the 
whole people. Koken intended to purify her subjects from sin, 
KOnin stated that the increase of “fields of felicity” and the glory 

‘ Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 322; p. 336. 

Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 347. 



302 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of the dynasty depended on the divine power of great compassion. 
As the ceremony of A.D. 773 took place towards the end of the 
year, we are inclined to believe that rites of repentance, in this 
case Yakushi-kekwa, were performed by the priests. Otherw'ise 
this Emperor’s devotion was directed more to the Daihannyakyo 
and the deity Mahaprajna-paramita, powerful protectress against 
war and pestilence (A.D. 774, IV 11; 775, X 19; 776, V 30; 
777 , III 21). ' When in A.D. 796 (Enryaku 15, VII 22) drought 
and pestilence were predicted by the diviners on account of the 
fact that the water of the Pond of the Divine Spirit ( 
in Aso district, Higo province (probably a volcanic lake in the 
neighbourhood of Aso-san, the well-known volcano), which pre- 
viously, even in years of inundation or drought, had never in- 
creased or decreased, was then more than 20 jo (200 feet) lower 
than before, the Emperor Kwammu (A.D. 781 — 806) issued an 
ordinance commanding charity towards widowers, widows, orphans 
and those who could not depend on themselves, and fasting, 
siitra reading and kekwa for three days in all Buddhist temples. 
Three months later (X 21 — 27) Yakushi-kekwa was practised in 
the Palace by^ forty monks, invited by the Emperor for this 
purpose. - 

In A.D. 797 (Enryaku 16, V 20) the Emperor Kwammu sent 
two monks to Awaji province, in order to perform tendoku of 
sufras and kekwa (it is not said which sutras and repentance 
were chosen), because the angry spirit of Sudd Tenno (^^ 
^ .^), his younger brother Sawara Shinno (his former heir 
apparent), whom in A.D. 785 (IX 27) he had banished to Awaji, 
had to be appeased and his forgiveness asked. ^ 

At the end of A.D. 804 fEnryaku 19, XII 25) the Emperor 
Kwammu was indisposed. He sent messengers to the Seven Great 
Temples of Nara, offered 560 pounds of silk, had sutras read, 

‘ Ibid., Ch. XXXII, p. 572; Ch. xxxiii, pp. 578, 589, 596, 603. 

^ Nihon koki, Ch. v, p. 2. 

® Nihon kiryaku, Kokashi taikei V, zeinpen Ch. xm, p. 378. 



Yaktishi-kekwa {8tk and 9th cent. A.DJ). 303 

and gave alms to the starving beggars, priests and laymen of 
the ancient capital (Nara). One of the seven temples was Yakushiji, 
and we may be sure that the Yakushikyo was among the sutras 
read for his recovery, but this time no Yakushi kekwa were 
mentioned. 

In the beginning of the next year (A.D. 805, 1 7) he had falcons 
and dogs (used in hunting) released and a Buddhist shrine built 
in Awaji, which he dedicated to Sudo Tenno's spirit All pagodas 
had to be repaired throughout the Empire. Until Iiis death (A.D. 
806, III 17) we see him trying to soothe the angry spirit of his 
brother (who on the way to Awaji had refused all drink and 
food and had died before reaching his place of exile; he had 
been buried in Awaji). Below we shall deal with these measures, 
which he took in order to restore his health; it may suffice to 
point out here his ever increasing fear and repentance, stimulated 
by the words of a female diviner, possessed by a god (A.D. 805, 
II 10). As to Bhaisajyagura, in A.D. 805 (Enryaku 24, II 19) he 
invoked this mighty Buddha’s protection by means of Yakushi- 
kekwa in all the Kokabunji (official provincial Buddhist temples) 
of the country; shortly before his death (A.D. 806, II 23) a copy 
of Yakushi’s image and of the Lotus sutra were made on his 
behaif. ' In A.D. 805 (VllI 9) he invited Saicho ( ^ ’^) (Dengjm 
Daishi) to the Palace, the great founder of the Tendai sect in 
Japan, who had just returned from China. It is no wonder that 
immediately sutras were read and kekwa rites performed, the 
Tendai sect being, as seen above, the main propagator of these 
ceremonies. At the same time Saicho presented a Chinese Buddha 
image to the Emperor, and the next month (IX 17) he performedt 
the Vairocana rites in the Palace, fo'r he was the first to introduce; 
into Japan the mystic doctrine (as a branch of the Tendai school)..^ 

In A.D. 833 (TenchO 10, VI 8) the Emperor Nimmyo ordered! 
tendoku of the Kongd-hannya-kyo in the day-time and Yakushi- 

' Nihon koki, Ch. Xii, pp. 43 sqq.; Ch. Xiu, p. 61. 

2 Nihon koki, Ch. xiii, pp. 52 sq. 



304 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

kekwa at night, to be performed during three days in all provinces 
by 20, 17, 14 or 10 skilled priests according to the dimensions 
of each province, in order to expel the pestilence everywhere 
prevailing. ' 

The next year (Showa 1, A.D. 834, IV 6) in all the kokubun 
soji the same ceremonies had to take place, again for three days, 
and it was forbidden to kill living beings during that time, in 
order to avert the pestilence still prevailing. “ 

In A.D. 837 (Showa 4, IV 25) the high-priests adviced the 
Emperor Ninnyo to protect the country against calamities of heaven 
and earth by having the Daihannyakyo read for three days in 
each decade of every month in all Buddhist temples; this sUtra 
had to be read in the day-time, whereas Yakushi’s sacred name 
had to be invoked at night. The Emperor followed this advice 
and ordered special services to be held in twenty great temples, 
from the first decade of the fifth month to the first decade of 
the eighth month. ^ Two months later (VI 21) he issued an or- 
dinance to the same effect as in 833 and 834, because the plague 
had again broken out: from 10 to 20 priests had to read the 
Kongo-hannyakyo in the day-time and perform Yakus/ii-kekwa 
at night, during three days in all kokubunji, and it was forbidden 
to kill living beings during that time. ^ The same division between 
sutra reading in the day-time and nightly rites of repentance 
(but without giving the names of the texts and rites) was made 
the next month (VII 3), when 15 monks performed these cere- 
monies in one of the buildings of the Palace, because strange 
apparitions had haunted the Emperor’s abode. ® 

In A.D. 840 (ShSwa 7, VI 13) the Emperor Nimmyo ordered 
fhat the Daihannyakyo during' seven days in the Home provinces 

' Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. ii, p. 180. 

^ Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. in, p. 193. 

® Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. VI, p. 235. 

'* Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xv, Kokushi taikei Vol. V, p. 492. 

•® Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. vi, p. 237. 



Yakushi-kekwa {9th century A.D.). 


305 


should be read in the day-time (by means of tendoku) and 
Yakushi-kekwa should be practised at night; in the mean-time 
no killing was allowed. This was done because all provinces 
suffered from famine on account of the bad harvest of the 
previous year; moreover pestilence had broken out and drought 
prevailed, so that the power of the Hannya {Prajna, Wisdom, 
i. e. Prajha-paramita) had to be obtained to protect the country 
and give tranquillity to the people. The next day the same cere- 
monies took place in the 15 Great Buddhist Temples of Nara 
and Kyoto, and in all Buddhist shrines of miraculous power, not 
situated in the two capitals; those which had no copy of the 
Daihannyakyd could use the Kongo hannyakyo. In order also to 
obtain the protection of the Shinto gods, the next day gohei were 
sent to the Great Shrine of Ise and to the temples of Kamo and 
Matsunoo, and all provinces had to make offerings of gohei to 
the gods of heaven and earth; these Shinto deities were suppli- 
cated to give “sweet rain” to the suffering country. 

In A.D. 841 (Showa 8, I 4) 58 Buddhist priests assembled in 
the Seiryoden, one of the main buildings of the Palace, usually 
inhabited by the Emperor, and, reading the Yakushikyo in the 
day-time, they performed kekkai kekwa at night. The term kekkai 
litt. “binding (closing) the territory”) means fixing by 
special rites the ground destined for a temple or an altar, thus 
making them sacred places of worship. ^ As the Yakushi sutra 
was read, probably also the kekwa rites were devoted to the 
Healing Buddha, and the aim may have been to avert the evil 
omen of the drying up of the “Pond of the Divine Spirit” in 
Aso district, Higo province (mentioned above, A.D. 796), which 
had fallen more than 400 feet the'year before (cf. A.D. 840, XII 7, 
when messengers were sent to the Great Shrine of Ise on account 
of that evil omen of drought and pestilence).* 

' Cf. Daijii, II, p. 1852, 3, s.v.Jugo daiji. 

2 Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. ix, p. 279. 

® Cf. Daijiten, p. 396, 3, s. v. kekkai. 

■* Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. x, p. 303; Ch. ix, p. 288. 


20 



306 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In A.D. 842 (Showa 9, III 15) the Emperor Nimmyo, in order 
to rid the country of the prevailing drought and to obtain 
a good harvest, ordered the Kongo hannyakyo to be read in the 
day-time and Yakushi-kekwa to be performed at night by 20 
priests in all the kokubunji throughout the empire; no killing 
was allowed during the three days of the ceremonies, and the 
Buddhist priests received presents and freedom from regular 
taxes. If there were places where the ceremonies were omitted, 
the governors of the provinces had to order worship of the eki- 
gami (yakushin, Shinto gods of pestilence, who originally warded 
it off, hence their old name of Sae no kami, “preventive deities”), ‘ 
fasting and praying for an abundant harvest. Moreover, messengers 
were sent with offerings to the Shinto shrines of Sumiyoshi, 
Tarumi (in Harima province), and Nibu kawakami (well-known 
protectors against drought), in order there to pray for “sweet 
rain”. ^ 

In order to suppress the evil influence of strange apparitions 
in the Palace and a strange yellowish-red colour of the sun, in 
A.D. 843 (V 8) a hundred Buddhist priests had to read the Ya- 
kushikyo for three days in the Seiryoden, to practise the Yakushi- 
hO (ceremony) in the Joneiden, and to perform tendoku of the 
Daihannyakyo in the Daigokuden (three main buildings of the 
Palace). The leading officials had to eat acid food, and the killing 
of living beings was forbidden. ^ Here the mystic Yakushi-ho * 
appears to have been preferred to the Yakushi-kekwa. As a matter 
of fact we never again read of Yakushi-kekwa-, A.D. 842 Hi 15 
appears to have been the last time this rite was performed. In 
the meantime the Butsumyd sange (A.D. 830, 

Interc. XII 8; 838, XII 15; 846, X 27) or “Rite of repentance by 
invoking the (13000) Buddha names” had arisen, and at the same 

' Cf. Aston, Shinto, p. 187. 

^ Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. xi, p. 309. 

^ Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. xiii, p. 337. 

* Cf. Himitsu jirin, p. 1063. 



Yakushi-kekwa {9th century A.D,). 


307 


time the term sange had appeared on the scene instead of the 
older term kekwa. In A.D. 847 (Showa 14, XI 21), when a comet 
had been seen on the previous day, this evil omen was averted 
by inviting 50 monks to the Seiryoden, where they performed 
tendoku of the Kongo-hannya-kyo in the day-time, and at night 
practised the Juichinenbo ( ) ' (a mystic ceremony 

in worship of the Eleven-faced Kwannon). Moreover, 40 monks 
celebrated the sokusai-ho ^ or “Rite for stopping 
calamity” - in the Shingon-in or “Tantric chapel” in the Palace ; 
all these ceremonies lasted three days. Thus the Tantric rites 
had gained ground and replaced the nocturnal Yakushi-kekwa. 

We learn from the passages, quoted above, that the penitential 
services in worship of the Buddha Bhaishajyaguru were celebrated 
to cure the Emperor, or the Prince Imperial, to purify the people 
from ^sin (A.D. 750), to pray on behalf of the soul of a deceased 
Emperor (A.D. 757), and to expel the demons of drought, pestilence 
and famine. In their last period (A.D. 833 — 842), under the reign 
of NimmyO Tennb, we see them used as nocturnal rites, combined 
with the reading of the Kongo-hannya-kyo which was performed 
in the day-time. Finally the Tantric ceremonies and the Butsu- 
myd sange took their place, but the latter became a regular service 
of the end of the year. 

As to the Yakushi cult itself, in A.D. 849 (X 10) the monks 
of Yakushiji had made 40 copies of the Yakushikyo (Nanjo No. 171, 
a sutra of one chapter), which they presented to the Emperor 
Nimmyo (who died A.D. 850, III 21), ^ and two days before the 
latter’s death in the Seiryoden of the Palace the Shichibutsu 
Yakushi-ho or “Rite of the Seven Bhaishajyaguru Buddhas” (based 
upon Nanjo No. 172) was practise^d and pictures of these Seven 
Buddhas were hung before the Imperial bamboo-blind {sudare). 
Moreover, seven double rows of round lanterns {rinto, as used 

’ Cf. Bukkyo daijiten, p. 904, 1, s. v. Juichimen-Kwanjizai-hd. 

- Ibid., p. 1081, 3, s. V. sokusai-ho. 

3 Shoku Nihon kdki, Ch. xix, p. 420. 



308 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


at the nocturnal Yakushi rites) were lighted in the court-yard 
and in the Southern court-yard of the Shishinden, and 10 men 
became monks, 500 having done so already when it was before 
(A.D. 850, III i9) requested, in order to save His Majesty’s 
life. ' 

In A.D. 875 (Jokwan 17, XII 13) by order of the Emperor 
Seiwa gohei were sent to the famous Shinto gods of all provinces, 
and in the kokubun niji (monasteries and nunneries) and the other 
official temples during three days seven priests had to perform 
tendoku of the Kongo hannyakyo in the day-time and to invoke 
the holy names of Yakushi and Kwannon at night, in order to 
avert drought, pestilence, war and fire. " 

Subsequently, for a very long time Yakushi Nyorai’s name 
is not mentioned in the annals (or only very rarely), but in 
A.D. 1015 (V 1) the “Rite of the Seven Bhaishajyaguru Buddhas” 
was performed to cure the Emperor Sanjo; shortly afterwards 
the Ninnd-e and Rinji-Ninno-e were used against the prevailing 
plague. ^ 

It was the Tendai sect which at that time especially worshipped 
this Buddha, as we learn from the fact that the images of the 
Seven Yakushi’s and Six Kwannons were dedicated in a new 
chapel, called after Yakushi’s name Joruri-in, “Pure Vaidurya 
Temple”, in the compound of Hojoji, under the leadership of the 
Tendai zasu Ingen (A.D. 1024, Manju 1, VI 26). ^ And in A.D. 
1028 (Chogen 1, III 7) the Kwampaku Udaijin (Fujiwara no 
Yorimichi) ascended Hieizan and performed the Yakushi-hd, enter- 
taining a thousand monks. ’ The Yakushi-kekwa rites, however, 
seem never to have been celebrated after A.D. 842 (III 15). 

‘ Ibid., Ch. XX, p. 431. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xvin, p. 662. 

3 Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. xn, p. 1098; cf. Faso ryakki, Ch. xxvii, 
p. 748 (A.D. 983, III 21, the Seven Yakushi's). 

Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. xiii, p. 1134. 

“ Nihon kiryaku, kohen, Ch. xiv, p. 1147. 



Kichijo-kekwa or sembo {8th century A.D.). 


309 


§15. Kichijo-kekwa ( ^ ‘|^ jliS ) or sembo Rites 

of Repentance in worship of the DevT Sri (Laksml), performed 
in Japan A.D. 739 — about 1068. 

This ceremony, the full name of which was Kichijo-Ten kekwa-ho, 
or “Rite of Repentance in worship of the 
Devi Sri” (“Goddess of Felicity”), was based upon the Konkwo- 
myo Saishookyo (Nanjo No. 126, I-tsing’s translation of the Su- 
varna-prabhasa sutra, A.D. 700 — 712). In Ch. VIII, Sect. 16 and 
17 of this sutra the Devi Sri worships the Buddha and promises 
to bestow all kinds of wealth and felicity upon the faithful readers 
of the sutra. ' At the end of Sect. 22 (Ch. IX, p. 366) she is 
mentioned at the head of the devas who on hearing the Buddha's 
explanations were greatly pleased and promised to devote their 
whole heart to the protection of this King of Sutras and of those 
who received and kept it, and to cause them to be free from 
sorrow and to obtain perpetual felicity. As to repentance, in the 
beginning of the sutra the Buddha pronounces a gatha^ the thir- 
teenth and following lines of which contain these words : “Again 
I preach the entire superiority of the Kichijd-sen (^ '|^) of 

the Wonderful Law, which is able to obliterate all sins, purify 
and take away all evil deeds, and efface all sufferings and sorrow. 
It always gives immeasurable joy, ail roots of wisdom, and all 
ornaments of beneficent virtue”. “ These words, in connection 
with the two other passages, appear to have been the origin of 
the Kichijo-kekwa. In the Konkwomyokyd (Nanjo No. 127, Dhar- 
maraksha's older translation of the same text, A.D. 414 — 423) 
Kichijo Ten, i. e. the ancient Inglian goddess of Felicity, Sri or 
Laksml, is called Kudoku Ten, or “Devi of Blessing 

Virtue”, ’ and in both translations she is mentioned after Dai 
Bentenjin or Dai Benzaiten Jfll^), “Goddess of Great 

' "Nanjo No. 126, Ch. Vitl, Sect. 16 and 17, pp. 306 sq. 

^ Nanjo No. 126, Ch. i. Sect. 1, p. 16. 

^ Nanjo No. 127, Ch. il, sect. 8, p. 53a. 



310 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Eloquence”, i. e. SarasvatT, the Goddess of Language, Poetry and 
Music, well-known in Japan as Goddess of Wealth and one of 
the Seven Deities of Felicity. ' Although the term sange was used 
in both translations, yet the ceremony was called Kichijo-kekwa, 
apparently because the older term kekwa was still in vogue. In 
the same way we read of Yakushi, Amida, Shako, Miroku, Jizo 
kekwa, rites of repentance in worship of Bhaishajyaguru, Ami- 
tabha, Sakyamuni, Maitreya and Kshitigarbha. In later times, 
however, the Kichijo-kekwa were called Kichijo or Konkwomyo 
sembo ( ' m&) or Konkwomyo sarnmai sen and were especially 
practised by the Tendai sect, as stated above (§ 7, p. 268, in 
connection with the Suvarna-prabhasa siifra; about A.D. 1020). 
At the same time the Kwannon, Hokke and Amida sembo were 
performed, and also the Hodo {~^ or Ho kwo sembo, 

based upon the Mahavaipulya {Daihokxvo) Buddhdvatamsaka siitra 
(Nanjo No. 89, § 9, p. 272 sqq.). The Kichijo sembo served to pro- 
tect the State ( ^ ^ ^ , chingo kokka), to stop cala- 
mity sokusai) and to lengthen life ( emmet), 

whereas the Kwannon, Hokke and Amida sembo were used to 
obliterate crimes and produce virtues, and to obtain 
birth in paradise and bodhi ( ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ , 

metsuzai shozen, kosho bodai). - 

In A.D. 739 (Tempyo 11, VII 14) the Emperor Shomu issued 
the following ordinance: “Now it is the first month of autumn; 
the shoots are flourishing. As we wish to cause wind and rain 
to be harmonious (i. e. to come in due time and be moderate) 
and the crops to ripen, we order Tendoku of the ‘Sutra for the 
ripening of the Five Cereals’ Gokoka jojuku 

kyd) to be performed in alt the Buddhist temples of the Empire, 
and kekwa to be practised for seven days and seven nights”. ^ 

* Nanjo No. 126, Ch. vm, sect. 15, 2, p. 296 sq.; Nanjo No. 127, Ch. ii, 
sect. 7, p. 53a. 

^ Daijiien, p. 1049, 2 sq. s. v. sembo. 

® Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xin, p. 221. 



Kichijo-kekwa {8fh century A.D). 


311 


As far as we know, no sufra of this name is found in the canon; 
evidently it was an extensive text, since it had to be read par- 
tially, i. e. by means of the tendoku system. Perhaps it was a 
general designation of those sutras which were famous for their 
blessing power with regard to the ripening of crops. In the 
Saishoo-kyd Kichijo Ten promises to the faithful readers of the 
sUtra not only all kinds of superior joy, but she also states that 
they shall always have abundant harvests and never suffer 
from famine. ’ Thus the Saishodkyo was one of the holy texts, 
to be used for this purpose, and the Kichijo-kekwa were the 
penitential services most probably intended by the Emperor. 

In A.D. 749 (Tempyo Shoho 1, I 1 — 6) the Emperor Shomu 
ordered kekwa and tendoku of the Konkwomyokyo (probably the 
Konkwomyo-daishookyo) to be performed in all the Buddhist 
temples of the Empire, and forbade the killing of living beings 
anywhere in the country, during seven days, beginning with the 
first day of the year. Evidently he intended to promote the feli- 
city of the country during the whole year. The sutra, connected 
with these kekwa rites, is evidence of their having been devoted 
to Kichijo Tennyo. - 

At the end of the same year (A.D. 749, Xll 18) the Empress 
Ko ken's welcome to the Shinto wargod Hachiman (dealt with 
above, § 14, p. 298), when 40 Buddhist priests were invited to 
the Palace to perform kekwa for seven days, may also have been 
intended to obtain the Goddess of Felicity’s protection, but, as 
suggested above, the connection between the cults of Vairocana 
and Hachiman and between Vairocana and Bhaishajyaguru may 
indicate their character of Yakushi kekwa. ^ 

In A.D. 759 (Tempyo Hoji 3, Vl 22) the Mabito Chinu (^ 
^), Councillor of state (sangi) of the Emperor Junnin, and the 
Shosozu Jikun ( ^|( ) (a Hosso priest of Kofakuji) reported to 

' Nanjo No. 126, Ch. viii, sect. 16, p. 306. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvn, p. 277. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XVII, p. 291. 



312 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

the Throne, that the yearly kekwa of the first month, 
performed in all the Buddhist temples of the Em- 
pire, had gradually become contrary to the Imperial wish and 
had finally lost their blessing power on account of the behaviour 
of the monks and nuns in the provinces. Some of them did not 
enter their monasteries beforehand and yet estimated the official 
offerings to be given to them as for seven days ; others were so 
covetous that they wrote false names in two places, in order to 
obtain a double amount of offerings. For this reason the Triratna 
was slandered and there was no blessing for the donators. There- 
fore they (Chinu and Jikun) humbly requested the Emperor 
henceforth to stop the official gifts (to the monks and nuns) and 
to cause those covetous monks to give up their desires. ' This 
is evidence of the fact that the “kekwa of the first month” had 
become a regular, annual ceremony, and that the Empress Kbken 
had followed her father Shomu’s example in ordering the cele- 
bration of kekwa rites throughout the country during the first 
seven days of the year. The Kichijo kekwa being a ceremony 
intended to “deprecate calamities and invite felicity” (jji^ 5^ 
jjf§, nOsai shofuku), and the New-year’s penitential services of 
A.D. 749 having been connected with the reading of the Kon- 
kwomyo {Saishoo) kyd, we may be sure that between A.D. 749 
and 759 the Kichijo kekwa had become an annual New-year’s 
ceremony, celebrated not in the Palace but in the temples of all 
provinces. This agrees with the statement of the Ruiju kokushi 
), a work based upon the Rikkokushi - and com- 
posed by Sugawara no Michizane (A.D. 845 — 903) and others, 
who presented it to Uda Tenno in A.D. 892. There we read that 
it was the first annual Kichijo-kekwa ceremony; although it was 
not the first, the name of the rite was correct.® 

' Ibid., Ch. XXII, p. 370. 

® The „Six National Histories”, namely the Nihongi, Sfioku Nihongi, 
Nihon koki, Shoku Nihon koki, Montoku jitsuroka and Sandai jitsuroku. 

® Quoted in the Daijii, I, p. 653, I, s. v. Kichijo kekwa. 



Kichijo-kekwa {8th century A.D.). 


313 


In A.D. 767 (Tempyo Jingo 3, I 8) Takano Tenno (i. e. the 
Empress Koken, who, after having abdicated in A.D. 758, returned 
to the throne in A.D. 764 and whose second reign is known in 
history as that of Shotoku Tenno or Takano Tenno) issued an 
ordinance to the effect that during seven days in all Kokubun- 
Konkwomyoji (the provincial monasteries established in A.D. 741 
(III 8) by the Emperor Shomu together with the nunneries called 
Hokke metsuzaiji, the former being devoted to the Konkwomyo 
Saishookyo and the latter to the Lotus sutra, their twenty monks 
and ten nuns having to read those sutras on the eighth day of 
each month)’ the Kichijo-kekwa rites should be performed; by 
virtue of this meritorious and blissful action Great Peace of 
the Realm, wind and rain in due season, ripening 
of the five cereals, and joy of the people might 
be caused, and all sentient beings of the ten 
quarters might equally be favoured with this feli- 
city ii- PB ill 

^ ^ ^ itfc )1S )• ' 

This was the first time the Kichijo-kekwa rites were limited 
to the Kokubunji. The fact that these monasteries were dedicated 
to the Saishookyo made them the proper places for the perfor- 
mance of these services, based upon the same sutra; the date of 
this ordinance, the eighth, was the day fixed in A.D. 741 for the 
monthly reading of this text. 

In the same year (A.D. 767, VIII 16) the Eipipress, changing 
the name of the era into Jingo keiun, in a long proclamation 
stated that during two times (a mistake for one time) seven days 
of the first month of this year the^ high-priests of all great Bud- 
dhist temples had been requested to expound the Saishookyo 
and to perform Kichijo-Ten kekwa. On account of the great zeal 
of the high-priests, and of the ministers with regard to the 

’ Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xiv, pp. 233 sq. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XXVIII, p. 470. 



314 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


government of the empire, the Triratna, together with the Devas 
and the gods of Heaven and Earth, had given a great lucky 
omen in the form of a seven-coloured cloud. Therefore the name 
of the era was changed into “Bright Cloud of Divine Protection”. 

In A.D. 771 (Hoki 2, I 13) the Emperor Konin (770 X 1 — 781 
IV 1) stopped the Kichijo kekwa in all provinces of the country, 
but the next year (A.D. 772, XI 10) the bad weather and constant 
famine in consequence thereof made him look for a means to 
save the country from this calamity. Therefore he reestablished 
the annual Kichijo-kekwa, to be performed during seven days of 
the first month in the kokubunji of all the provinces, and made 
this a regular ceremony. ' 

It is not said which kind of kekwa was chosen by the Emperor 
Kwammu in A.D. 796 (Enryaku 15, Vll 22), when the water 
of the Pond of the Divine Spirit in Aso district, Higo province 
(mentioned above, § 14, p. 302) had fallen more than 200 feet, 
which was an omen of drought and pestilence (three months 
later Yakushi-kekwa rites took place in the Palace), nor do we 
know which sutras and penitential services were used the fol- 
lowing year (V 20) to appease Sudo TennS’s angry spirit, but 
in both cases the Kichijo-kekwa as well as the Yakushi kekwa 
were liable to be put into practice in order to avert calamity. “ 
In A.D. 802 (Enryaku 21, I 8) the Emperor Kwammu issued an 
ordinance with regard to the fact that Mount Fuji continually 
emitted fire and a hail of white sand and pebbles, which the 
diviners declared to be an omen of pestilence. The Emperor 
ordered the provinces which had reported this matter (Suruga 
and Sagami) to dispel this calamity by apologizing and reading 
sutras, but he did not speak about Kichijo kekwa. Five days 
later he mentioned the rivalry between the Sanron and Hosso 
sects, each of which was only concerned with its special doctrine. 
If one of them was partially suppressed, decline of the doctrine 

'.Ibid., Ch. XXXII, p. 565. 

^ Nihon kokl, Ch. v, p. 2; Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xm, p. 378. 



Kichijo-kekwa {9th century A.D.). 


315 


was imminent. Therefore henceforth in the first month the Sai- 
shookyo-e and in the tenth month the Yuimakyo-e had to purify 
the Six Sects in order to broaden their work of instruction. ’ 
The Yuima-e was a festival of the Hosso sanctuary Kofukuji in 
Nara, celebrated X 10 — 16, the So/sAddAyo-e was performed I 8 — 14 
in the Imperial Palace. The Saishd-e of Yakushiji, however, was 
not established before A.D. 830 (Tencho 7, IX 2), when the 
Emperor Junna instituted it as a regular festival, to be held in 
the Hosso temple Yakushiji, yearly III 7 — 13. As to the Kichijo- 
kekwa, the Emperor Kwammu did not think of it, neither in this 
connection, nor during his illness in A.D. 805, when he ordered 
Yakushi-kekwa to be performed in all kokiibunji (II 19). 

In A.D. 813 (Konin 4), under the reign of the Emperor Saga 
(A.D. 810 — 823), Kwammu’s second son, who had succeeded his 
elder brother Heijo Tenno, the Saishookyd-ko (^) was ended 
on the 14th of the first month, and 11 priests of great learning 
were invited to the Palace for a discussion (rongi) and to receive 
Imperial robes. - And in 824 (TenchO 1), when Kwammu's third 
son, Junna TennO, had ascended the throne (A.D. 823 — 833), 
on I 14 “the priests of the Saisho-e held a discussion in the 
Palace; this was the custom.”^ In 832 (Tencho 9), again I 14, 
“the Saishd-e was ended ; the Emperor went to the Shishinden 
(the throne hall of the Palace), requested the Sojo to protect his 
life etc., ordered them to hold a discussion, and presented them 
with Imperial robes.” The next year the same meeting took place 
at the same date. ^ In A.D. 834 (Showa 1, I 8) the Emperor 
Nimmyo went to the Daigokitden (where the 'Emperors used to 
celebrate their accession to the throne and to receive the New- 
year’s congratulations) and, attended^Dy the Prince Imperial, listened 
to the expounding of the Saishodkyo. ® Thus we see that the 

‘ Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xm, p. 386. 

2 Nihon kiryaku, zempen, Ch. xiv, p. 424. 

3 Ibid., p. 447. 

Ibid., pp. 467, 469. 

3 Ibid., Ch. xv, p. 477. 



316 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Saishd-e or Saishookyo-kd were held yearly during seven days 
(I 8 — 14), in the Daigokuden. As to the Kichijd-kekwa, these 
were not mentioned, but they took place at the same dates in 
the kokubunji of all the provinces. We also read of them in 
A.D. 822 (Kdnin 13, VIII 1), when kekwa {c.e.\:ia\n\y Kichijo-kekwa) 
were ordered to be performed during seven days and seven nights 
in all the kokubunji, monasteries and nunneries, to expel the 
drought and save the crops. ’ The Saisho-e of the Palace were 
again held in A.D. 836 (I 8 — 14), ’ and thenceforth they are 
mentioned yearly at the same dates. 

In A.D. 839 (Showa 6, IX 21) the Emperor Nimmyo (A.D. 
833 — 850), who paid much attention to the Buddhist ceremonies, 
issued the following ordinance. “We have heard that in the second 
year of the Jingo keiun era (A.D. 766, but this must be A.D. 767) 
the Empress (Shdtoku, called Takano Tenno) ordered that yearly, 
from the 8th to the 14th of the first month, in the kokubunji of 
all provinces the Saishodkyo should be read and Kichijd-kekwa 
should be performed, in order to remove evil and give protection 
and peace to the State .... Henceforth these ceremonies must be 
practised (not in the kokubunji, but) in the government offices”. “ 
In Yamashiro province, however, where they took place in the 
government office from A.D. 822, the ancient custom of celebrating 
them in the kokubunji was restored in A.D. 843 (Showa 10). ^ 

In A.D. 876 (jdkwan 18, VI 19) a Saishdkd (ceremony of ex- 
pounding the Saishodkyo) was held in the Chinjufu, the military 
prefecture in Mutsu province with the castle of Taga as centre; 
at the same time’ a Kichijd-kekwa ceremony took place, as we 
learn from the Nichureki, Pfl ^ (A.D. 1350 — 1400).® And 


' Ibid., Ch. XIV, p. 439. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XV, p. 485. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XV, p. 501. 

* Daijii, I, p. 653, 1 , s. v. Kichijd-kekwa. 

® Nichureki, Ch. iv, Shiseki shuran, Vol. xxm, p. 98, sub Shotai 1, 

XII 9. 



Kichijo-kekwa {9th ^ jQth and 11th cent. A.D.). 317 

in A.D. 899 (the second year of Daigd Tenno's reign, XII 9) all 
provinces were ordered to practise Kichijo-kekwa. * 

In the Engi era (A.D. 901 — 923) (I 8 — 14) the Saishde were 
held in the Daigokuden, and the Kichijo-kekwa in the government 
offices by the Buddhist priests of all the temples (monasteries) 
within the territories (of those offices), but the monks of the 
kokubunji alone read the Saishookyo, whereas the other monks 
were in charge of the Kichijo-kekwa rites. In Dazaifu (in Chi- 
kuzen province), however, the monks of Kwanzeonji performed 
this ceremony in their own monastery. Seven priestly robes and 
other gifts were presented to the monks from the regular taxes. ’ 
The seven robes were destined for the seven leading priests of 
the ceremony. 

From that time to the ages of the Emperors Qo'^Suzaku and 
Go Reizei (A.D. 1037 — 1068) the same custom prevailed, as we 
learn from the Nenju gyoji (^^ i:|j ^) or “Rites of the 
whole year”;® but afterwards the Kichijo-kekwa (sembo) are not 
mentioned. We do not know when they fell into disuse, but if 
these rites had been of any importance in the twelfth century 
and later, the authors would not have been so silent with regard 
to them. Yet, as we saw above (§ 7, p. 269), as late as the 
17th century the Chinese T‘ien-t‘ai priest Chi-hiuh (A.D. 1599-1654) 
wrote a work on the Konkwomyo-sen. 

' Ranjosho, Gunsho ruiju, Vol. XVI, No. 465, p. 987; 

Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiv, p. 1061. 

^ Engishiki Ch. xxi, Kokushi taikei XIII, p. 659, £61 sq. Cf. Ch. XXVII, 
p. 812 (fendoku of the Kongd-hannya-kyo)-, Ch. xxvi, p. 793: 18 — 14, presents 
of cloth and silk to seven priests; offerijigs of rice in Kwanzeonji. 

3 Quoted in the Daijii, 1. 1. 



318 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 16. Amida-kekwa ( 511 | 5 £ ‘ 1 ^ ) or sembo 

Rites of Repentance performed in Japan in worship of the 
Buddha Amitdbha from A.D. 782 to the present day. 

His cult in China and Japan. 

A. Amitabha’s cult in China. 

In Tao-suen’s work, referred to above (§ 13, p. 291) among 
the penitential rites of the sixth century no ceremonies in worship 
of Amitabha were mentioned, nor do we read there about such 
a rite in honour of Maitreya, although Miroku-kekwa are also 
enumerated among those services in Japan. * There was a close 
connection between the Maitreya and Amitabha doctrines, since 
both of them were “easy ways” igyodo) towards 

Nirvana instead of the "difficult way” nangyddo) of 

the Aryas; they were based on “the power of another” 
tariki) instead of on one’s own power ( , jiriki) ; they were 

“Gates of the Pure Land” (Maitreya’s Heaven, i. e. the Tushita 
Heaven, and SukhavatT, Amitabha’s Paradise) ( it > jodo~ 

mon) instead of the “Road of the Aryas” (1^^’ shodo). They 
preached belief in Maitreya’s and Amitabha’s allmighty blessing 
power as the way to be reborn in the inner palace of the Tushita 
heaven or in SukhavatT, in order to advance and never to retreat 
on the road to Nirvana. ' In China Tao-ngan ^) (A.D. 
314 — 385) was the first to worship Maitreya and pray to be 
reborn in the Tushita heaven; and when he died in A.D. 385, 
a strange priest appeared and pointed to the Northwest, where 
the clouds opened and a beautiful heaven became visible to his 
dying eyes. This was the beginning of Maitreya’s cult in China; 
in the fourth and fifth centuries it flourished in all parts of India 
and Ceylon. 

' Daijii, I, p. 1002, 2, s. v. kekwa. 

* Cf. Prof. L. de la Valine Poussin’s Bouddhisme, pp. 267 sqq. 



Amida-kekwa or sembo. 


319 


In A.D. 402 KumarajTva translated the Short Sakhavatl vyuha 
text as well as the two principal texts of Maitreya’s doctrine 
(Nanjo Nos. 200, 205, 209); in A.D. 424 appeared Kalayasas' 
translation of the Sutra on the meditation on Amitayus (the 
Kwangyo, Nanjo No. 198). In A.D. 453 Qunabhadra gave a trans- 
lation of a magic formula {dharani) to be used to obtain rebirth 
in SukhavatT (Nanjo No. 201), and two years later the prince of 
An-yang translated the Sutra on Maitreya’s birth in the Tushita 
heaven (Nanjo No. 204). Although the Large SukhavatT vyuha 
text had been translated as early as the second century A.D. by 
An Shi-kao and also by another foreign priest, and in the third 
century by two other foreigners (the first is lost, the three other 
texts are Nanjo Nos. 25, 26 and 27) as well as by a Chinese, 
the latter translation and five others (of the 4th and 5t'h centuries), 
which, are all lost, evidently had no more influence than the 
former works. Maitreya’s cult prevailed in China during the fifth 
and sixth centuries, but was superseded by the Amitabha doctrine 
in the course of the seventh century A.D. 

Between A.D. 508 and 535 Bodhiruci I, the fourth of the eight 
patriarchs of the /bdo sect (Asvaghosha, Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu 
being his predecessors), translated Vasubandhu’s work on the 
Larga SukhavatT vyuha (Nanjo No. 1204), and caused T‘an-lwan 
( ft ^ ) Donran Daishi, A.D. 476 — 542), the fifth patriarch 

of the Jodo sect and founder of the Yen-man osn) sect, to 
become a devout adherent and propagator of Amitabha’s doctrine 
by giving him Kalayasas’ translation of the KwangyO (Nanjo No. 1 98). 
But neither Hwui-yuen ( ^^ A.D. 334 — 416), who in A.D. 390 
(VII 28) with 123 followers worshipped Amitayus in a temple 
on La-shan (MUD, and who is "considered to be the founder 
of the White Lotus School which lasted until about A.D. 1042, 
nor Bodhiruci I, nor Chi-che ta-shi ^ ihe founder 

of the T‘ien-t‘ai sect, A.p. 531 — 597, who wrote two works on 
this doctrine, Nanjo No. 1574, on ten doubts about SukhavatT, 
and No. 1559, an oral commentary on the Kwangyd), nor Para- 



320 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


martha (who in A.D. 553 translated Asvaghosha’s Mahayana- 
sraddhotpada-sastra, Kishinron, No. 1250, towards the end of 
which Amitabha and his Paradise are mentioned) succeeded in 
propagating this doctrine among the Chinese people, because 
Maitreya's cult was still predominant as the “Easy Way”. ' 

The seventh century of our era saw Amitabha’s gradual victory 
in China, caused by the works and restless propaganda of the 
priests Tao-ch‘oh (1^^, Doshaku, about A.D. 561 — 645, the 
sixth patriarch of the Jodo sect, author of the Ngan-loh-tsih 
{Antakusha, Kia-ts‘ai author of the Tsing- 

fu-lun, Jodoron, ±m)> who compared the Maitreya doctrine 
with that of Amitabha and pointed out the latter’s pre-eminence, 
and, the greatest of all, Shen-tao Zendo), who died in 

A.D. 681, after a life full of activity in writing, painting and 
preaching in favour of his doctrine of the Niga byakudo, 

or the Narrow “White Path between the two rivers” 
(of fire and water, anger and greed, dvesa and kama), leading 
to Amitabha’s Paradise. - 

In the eighth century of era we see Bodhiruci II, who between 
A.D. 693 and 713 gave the eleventh translation of the Large 
Sukhavati vyuha, Nanjo No. 23 (5), and Amoghavajra, the founder 
of the mystic school in China, who between A.D. 746 and 771 
translated a “Kalpa on the practice of meditation on the Buddha 
Amitayus and on the offerings to be made to him” (Nanjo No. 1412) 
playing their part in the spreading of this mighty cult. Afterwards, 

' Cf. Matsumoto BunsaburS 2l|j ^ )’s excellent work entitled 

Miroku-jodo-ron, , or “Discussions on Maitreya’s Pure 

Land”, pp. 6 sqq. 

^ Cf. Kokkwa, No. 264, PI. I and II, an allegorical picture of the Niga 
byakudo, conceived by Shen-tao. He wrote the “Commentary on the Kwangyb, 

caisange, ^ iii§ ^ ilr ’ “Hymn in worship 
and praise (of Amitabha) with regard to rebirth in his Paradise”, and several 
other works. 



Amitabha's cult in China. 


321 


following the example of their great Masters, the T‘ien-t'ai 
and Tan trie priests wrote works on this doctrine. Of the TUen- 
t‘ai school workers in this field were the Korean priest Yuen- 
hiao (No. 1603) (T‘ang dynasty), and the Chinese priest Tsun-shih 
(about A.D. 1000), Chi-li (^ Nanjo No. 1560, a commentary 
on Chi-che ta-shi’s work, No. 1559; written about A.D. 1020) 
and Hwai-tsih (No. 1587, about A.D. 1350). Towards the end of 
the tenth century (Fah-t‘ien ( , afterwards Fah-hien, 

known by the posthumous title of Hiien-kioh Shenshi, ^ 

an Indian priest, who died A.D. 1001) translated two 
dharanl-sutras on Amitayus (Nanjo Nos. 786 and 913). 

About A.D. 1000 the T'ien-Vai priest Tsun-shih (^ ^) (A.D. 

963 — 1032), called Ts‘ze-yun ch‘an-chu, Ji-un senshu (^^^ 
“Cloud of Mercy, Master of Repentance”, wrote 
the ‘OJb jodo sengwan-g or “Ceremo- 

nial rules (kalpo) of repentance and vows for rebirth in Amida’s 
Pure Land” (Nanjo No. 1513). The same priest wrote the Ojd 
jodo ketsugi gydgwan nimon ^ 'M- ih ^ ^ ff M ^ 
) or “Two gates leading to rebirth in Amida’s Paradise: 
removing doubts and practising vows” (Nanjo No. 1514). He 
owes his title of senshu, “Master of Repentance”, also to a third 
work, the Konkwomyo sembo hojo-gi, ^ ^ f S ^ 

or “Additional rules for the rites of repentance based upon 
the Suvarna-prabhasa sutra” (No. 127) (Nanjo No. 1512). Tsun- 
shih was a priest of the T‘ien-chuh Ling-shan-sze {Tenjiku Ryo- 
sanji, ^ ^ ^ jjj ^) in Hang-cheu-fu, Cheh-kiang province. ' 
He was famous for the miraculous effect of his prayers, and the 
Jodo Shinshu in Japan has honoured him with the title of “Cloud 
of Mercy.” Before the image of Fugen (Samantabhadra) of Kwoh- 
ts'ing-sze ( @ '^ ) on T’ien-t‘ai-shan he burned one of his 

fingers, swearing that he would transmit the T‘ien-t‘ai doctrine.^ 


‘ Cf. Daijii, lit, p. 3392, 2, s. v. Tenjikuji. 
2 Daijiten, p. 888, 1 , s. v. Jiun. 


21 



322 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In the Ling-shan-sze he erected a Konkwomyo sendo, 

UM. or “Chapel of Repentance based upon the Suvarna- 
prabhasa-sutra” , where he used to perform the rites, explained 
by him in his work (Nanjd No. 1512). ‘ 

Thus the most important sects adopted this cult as the “Easy 
Way” to Paradise and Nirvana, besides their own tenets, be- 
longing to the public or mystic creed ; and the other sects fol- 
lowed their example. With regard to Amitabha's worship in China 
at the present day we may refer the reader to Prof. Hackmann's 
interesting work on “ Laien-Buddhismus in China". - 

B. Amitabha’s cult in Japan. 

The same process may be observed in Japan, as well as in 
Korea. In A.D. 584 Soga no Umako received a stone image of 
Maitreya from Kudara and erected a chapel for it near his house 
in Ishikawa. ® Eleven years later (A.D. 595) the Korean priest 
Eji ^ sent as tribute from Koma, became the teacher of 
ShOtoku Taishi, * and after the latter’s death (A.D. 621) this priest, 
who had returned to Korea, declared that he would die a year 

later, at the same date, and that he would meet the Prince in 

Paradise {Jodo, the “Pure Land”), in order with him to convert 
living beings. ’ The next year this Paradise was represented in 
a beautiful embroidery, the famous Tenjukoku mandara ( ^ ^ 
) {Kokkwa No 83, 111, IV), at the request of Shotoku’s widow 
to the Empress Suiko. Some Japanese scholars believe this para- 
dise to be that of ’ Ami tab ha, and in my opinion they are 

' Daijiten, p. 1040, 3, s. v. senshu. 

^ Hackmann, Laien-Buddhismus in China (1924), pp. 9, 16, 58 etc. 

3 Nihongi, Ch. xx, p. 358; Aston II, p. 101. 

“ Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 373; Aston II, p. 123. 

® Nihongi, Ch. xxii, p. 390; Aston H, p. 149. ^ 

® Cf. Daijii, III, p. 3393, 2, s. v. Tenjukoku shuchd\ Daijiten, p. 1251, 1, 
s. V. Tenjukoku mandara, where it is evidently considered to be SukhavatT, 
the Jodo of the Kwangyo (Nanjo No. 198). 



Amifabha’s cult in Japan (Jth century). 


323 


right. Matsumoto, however, declares it to be that of Maitreya, 
the Tushita heaven, because at that time the latter’s cult was 
predominant in Korea, together with the Sanron and Jojitsu sects 
(devoted to Nagarjuna’s works Nanjo Nos. 1179 and 1 186, C/!«/-ci /7 
and Junimonron, and Deva and Vasubandhu’s work No. 1188, 
Hyakuron, all three translated by KumarajTva in A.D. 409, 408, 
and 404, and to Harivarman’s Satyasiddhi-sastra, Nanjo No. 1274, 
Jojitsuron, also translated by KumarajTva). Not until a hundred 
years later did the idea of Amitabha’s Paradise gain a hold in 
Japan. Yet the name of the mandara: “Land of Heavenly Long 
Life” points more to SukhavatT than to the Tushita heaven, and 
its representation reminds much more of the former than of 
Maitreya’s Inner Palace. Moreover, Shotoku Taishi is said to 
have known the Amida doctrine. ' For these reasons I believe 
that the Tenjukoka mandara represents Amitabha’s Paradise. 

In A.D. 652 (Hakuchi 3, the third year of Kotoku TennO’s 
reign, IV 15) the Japanese priest Eon |J^), who in A.D. 639 
had returned from China, expounded the Miiryojukyo (NanjS 
No. 27, Sahghavarman’s translation of the Large SukhavatT vyTlha, 
made in A.D. 252; the five later translations were lost) in the 
Imperial Palace. The Japanese Sanron priest Eshi (^. ^) was 
made rongisha (discusser), and 1000 priests were constituted the 
audience. This lasted five days, for on the twentieth the ex- 
pounding was discontinued. ^ Tao-ch‘oh had probably been Eon's 
teacher with regard to this doctrine, but it was not yet accepted 
at the Japanese Court, where Maitreya's cult was still in vogue. 
Thus in A.D. 669 (the eighth year of Tenchi Tenno’s reign) 
some days before Fujiwara no Kamatari’s death (X 16), the 
Emperor went to his house add bestowed on him a golden 


‘ Cf. below, Ch. Viii, § 18 D, Higan. 

- Nihongi, Ch. xxv, p. 453; Aston II, pp. 241 sq.; Genko Shakusho, 
^ ^ § > written A.D. 1331 — 1334 by the Buddhist priest Shiren,^ 

mm- Ch. XX, Kokushi taikei, Vol. xiv, p. 988. 



324 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


incense-burner, saying: “I have heard that you have become a 
monk; thus you must hold in your hands a utensil of the Law. 
Take this incense-burner and follow the devas and rsis ; on having 
ascended to the Tusita heaven and arrived before Maitreya, you 
must testify to the Law of the Absolute Nature (shinnyo-hd).” ' 

In A.D. 689 (the third year of JitD Tenno’s reign) (IV 20), the 
King of Shinra (Silla, one of the three kingdoms of Korea) sent 
a mission of condolence on the decease of the Emperor Temmu 
(who died A.D. 686, IX 3), and a present of gold-copper images 
of Amida, Kwannon and Seishi; and in A.D. 692 (Intercalary V, 15) 
the Empress Jito ordered Prince Kawachi, Viceroy of Tsukushi, 
to send up to the capital the image of Amida, made by the 
Chinese Chief Envoy “for the Emperor who lived in the Palace 
of Ohotsu in Afumi”, i. e. Prince Ohotomo, Tenchi Tennd’s son 
and successor, afterwards called Kobun Tennb, whose short reign 
during the first months of A.D. 672 as far as possible is ignored 
by the author of the Nihongi. - 

In A.D. 698, XI 5, the Hosso priest Dosho (^ ^ ), the founder 
of the Hossd sect, is said to have “opened the eyes” and led 
the dedicatory ceremony of a large embroidery, 30 shaku high 
and 21 shaku, 8 sun broad, representing Amida, Kwannon and 
Seishi and angels, in all more than 100 figures, in the expounding 
hall of Yakushiji at Nara. He did so by order of the Emperor 
Mommu, who the same day appointed him Daisozu. This was 
the honzon of the Saishde of Yakushiji, instituted in A.D. 830. ’ 
The annals, however, do not mention this dedication. 

In A.D. 760 (the third year of Junnin TennS's reign, VII 26), 
on the 7 X 7th day after the death of the Empress Dowager 


' Genko Shakusho, Ch. xvii, p. 913; according to the Nihongi, Ch. xxvii, 
p. 483, the Emperor went to the house three days after Kamatari’s death 
and gave the incense-burner to Soga no Akae no Omi. 

2 Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 551, 562; Aston II, pp.'391, 408; Genko Shakusho, 
Ch. XXI, Kokushi taikei Vol. xiv, p. 1002. 

3 Daijii, II, p. 1476, 3, s.v. Saishde; cf. below, Ch. xil, § 5, B. 



Amitabha’s cult in Japan (8ih century). 


325 


(K(w)omyo K(w)ogo), the Emperor ordered a vegetarian feast to 
be held on behalf of her soul. This took place in Todaiji and 
in all the small temples of the capital; in every province 
of the Empire a painting of Am Ida’s Pure Land 
had to be made, and prominent monks and nuns 
of the province had to copy the “Sutra in praise 
of the Pure Land” Shosan-Jodo-kyo, 

Nanjo No. 199, translated in A.D. 650 by the famous pilgrim 
Hiien-tsang). In every Kokubun Konkwomyoji reverence had to 
be paid and offerings to be made (to the Buddha Amitabha). ‘ 
This was the beginning of the official Amitabha cult in Japan. 

The next year (A.D. 761, VI 7), exactly a year after the Em- 
press-Dowager’s death, a slmki-sai (J^ or vegetarian 

entertainment to celebrate the anniversary of her death was given 
in ^the Amida-jodo-in or “Temple of Amitabha’s Pure Land”, 
erected for this purpose in the southwestern corner of the com- 
pound of Hokkeji, the Sokokubunniji or “Main Provincial Nunnery” 
at Nara, situated west of Todaiji (which was the Sokokubunji or 
“Main Provincial Monastery”)- At the same time in all the Koku- 
bun niji (provincial nunneries) of the country an image of 
Amitabha, sixteen feet high, had to be made, as also 
two other images, namely those of his attendant Bodhisattvas 
Avalokitesvara and Mahasthanaprapta {Kwannon and 
Seishi). The next day the Emperor Junnin ordered that yearly on 
the anniversary of the Empress-Dowager’s death the Bommokyo 
), (Nanjo No. 1087, the Brahmajala-sutra, translated 
in A.D. 406 by KumarajTva ; afterwards, in the Ming dynasty, a 
Bommokyo sange gybhb or Bommb sembo, i, e. a penitential cere- 
mony, was based on this text)^ should be expounded in Yama- 
shina-dera, the ancestral temple of the Fujiwaras, i. e. the Hosso 
sanctuary Kofukuji at Nara. For this purpose he gave 30 cho of 
rice-fields in the West of the capital to this temple, and 10. chO 


' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxni, p. 384. 



326 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of other rice-fields. In Hokkeji a yearly service had to be cele- 
brated by ten monks in worship of the Buddha Ami- 
tabha, during seven days, beginning with the anniversary of 
the Empress-Dowager’s death. ’ 

This Amida-jodo-in was evidently the first temple, specially 
devoted to Amitabha’s cult, and the service in Hokkeji was the 
first annual ceremony, performed in worship of this Buddha. We 
also read of a Kwannon image placed in a chapel in the com- 
pound of Kofukuji, repaired for this purpose and decorated with 
two beautiful embroideries; on the Western wall Mount Potalaka 
(Kwannon’s heaven), on the Eastern wall Amitabha’s Paradise. 
This was done in the second month of the same year (A. D. 761). - 

In A.D. 763 (Tempyo-hbji 7, VI 15) the famous Taema-mandara 
^ ^ was made. It was based upon the Kwangyo 

(NanjO No. 198), evidently in imitation of the pictures of Shen-tao, 
as the Kwangyd-mandara of Chion-in in Kyoto, said to have been 
brought from China at Hunin Shonin’s request by his pupil, the 
Japanese Jodo priest Jtigen in China A.D. 1167 — 1168, 

died 1195).'’ 

Tradition attributes the Taema painting (also called Toman, 
) to Princess Chujo ( Chujo Hime, A.D. 753-781), 

the daughter of Fujiwara no Toyonari, who had made a thousand 
copies of the Shosan-Jodo-kyd (Nanjo No. 199) and presented 
them to Zenrinji (jjl^ “Temple of the Wood of Medi- 

tation”) in Yamato province, popularly named Taema-dera. This 
was a Maitreya sanctuary; the affinity between the two “Easy 
Ways” may have caused her to choose this temple for her 
Ami tab ha cult. She became a nun (called Zenshin-ni, jjjp ^ 
) and took up her residence in Zenrinji, where she prayed 
for seven days to see a manifestation of Amida. After six days 

' Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxiu, p. 391. 

2 Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxii, p. 1026. 

^ Daijiten, p. 342, 1, s. v. Kwangyo mandaraj Washio, p. 562, 2, does not 
mention this fact. 



Amitabha’s cult in Japan {8th century). 


327 


this Buddha appeared to her in the shape of a lady, who ordered 
her to have a hundred lotus stems collected. This was done 
within two days, whereupon the Buddha made a pure well and 
by washing the stems changed them into five-coloured threads. 
Then, on the twenty-third day of the month, K wa n n on appeared, 
also in female shape, and, having received the threads from 
Amida, in one night made the image of the Pure Land, known 
as the Taema-mandara. * At the present time only fragments of 
this painting (it is painted on silk) are preserved in the treasury 
of the temple, but in the so-called Mandara-do or Mandala 
chapel of the same sanctuary a replica, made in the Bunki era 
(A.D. 1501 — 1503), is visible to all worshippers. 

There are tliree such paintings of Amida’s Paradise in Japan: 
the Chikwo, Seikai {Shokai), and Taema mandara.^ 

Chikwo ^ ) was a Sanron priest of Gwangoji, who lived 
in (he seventh and eighth centuries of our era. To him is attri- 
buted the Chikwo no Jodo mandara of Gokurakii-in in Nara. He 
is said to have painted it after a dream, and to have dedicated 
it to Gokiirakuji, a temple founded by him. “ 

Shskai ('^ was a Hosso priest of Kofukuji in Nara, who 
died in the EishO era (A.D. 1046—1053), and whose name, 
erroneously called Seikai, is connected with the Amida cult and 
the picture of Amida’s paradise, known as the Seikai mandara 
of Gokurakuji, Yamato. * Cf. below, this paragraph, C. 

These three niandara’s are indicated by this term on account 

> 

‘ Kokon chomonshU, written A.D. 1254, Ch. II 

(^P ^ohushi taikei Vol. xv, pp. 179sqq.; Genko^hakusho.Ch.XXWiu, 

p. 1137. 

2 With regard to Amitabha’s Paradise represented in Central-Asian paintings 
cf. Sir Aurel Stein (Serindia), Prof. Pelliot {Mission Pelliof), Mr. Hackin 
{Collections Bouddhiques pp. 88 sq,). 

^ Washio, p. 794, 2; Genko Shakusho, Ch. ii, Kokushi taikei Vol. Xiv, 

p. 662. , 

Washio, p. 626 (who does not mention the mandara)-, i^okkivaNo. 271,’ 
PI. 1, II. 



328 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of their analogy with the mandalas of the mystic doctrine, but 
their proper name was Jodo henso, ^ ^ > or “Phases 

of (Amitabha’s) Pure Land”. In China they were always called 
thus, but in Japan the term was changed into mandara after the 
introduction of the Shingon sect (A.D. 806). These paintings, 
probably similar to those of “Amitabha and the Fifty Bodhisattvas”, 
painted in China in the Northern Ts'i dynasty (A.D. 550 — 577) 
after Indian and Central-Asian models, and the Jodo-hen of the 
Sui dynasty (A.D. 581 — 618), in the T'ang dynasty (A.D. 618 — 906), 
especially in the seventh century, obtained a great popularity by 
the extraordinary zeal of the eminent propagandist of the Ami- 
tabha doctrine, the famous priest Shen-tao (^^) (t 681), 
mentioned above, who not only wrote a large commentary on 
the Kwangyd, but also based his paintings upon this text. From 
that time his type of Jodo-hen became general in China (where 
however, they are all lost, and where even in the Yuen and 
Ming dynasties no perfect copies seem to have existed), and in 
Japan, where they are highly esteemed and preserved as great 
treasures even to the present day. Introduced during the T‘ang 
dynasty, this subject was treated in Shen-tao’s style by many 
Japanese painters. It is a so-called sangoku-denrai ( — ^ ^ 
3K). a composition which came from India (and Central-Asia) 
via China to Japan. ' 

The following sixteen meditations on Amitabha, explained in 
the Kwangyo, are represented on the right and bottom borders 
of the Taema-mandara. 

0 d^i^sd-kwan, meditation on the setting (not the 

rising, as Taki Seiichi says) sun, called in the picture Amitabha’s 
Dharma-kaya, ho shin, e. his invisible Dharma-body 

or Absolute Nature {Bhutatathdta'). 

' Cf. Taki Seiichi, Kokkwa No. 247, pp. 159 sqq., “On the Taima-man- 
dara painting. Part I; Kokkwa No. 249, idem. Part II (the 24 border scenes); 
Kokkwa No. 251, idem. Part III (the 9 bottom scenes and the middle part, 
i. e. the Paradise itself with the Buddha and Bodhisattvas). 



Amitabha' s Paradise (Taema-mandara). 329 

2. icMH. Suiso-kwan, meditation on water (and ice), in 
its purity also representing Amitabha’s Dharma-kaya. 

3- Hoji-kwan, meditation on the Precious Ground 

(of Paradise), representing the Bodaishin or Bodhi heart. 

4. ^ Hoju-kwan, meditation on the Precious Trees 

(of Paradise), representing the expanding of the Law, 
choho, because they preach the Law, being moved by the soft 
breeze. ' 

5- Hochi-kwan, meditation on the Precious Pond 

(of eight virtues), representing the Sounds of the Law (j^^j 
tio-on), because the water preaches the Law, being moved by 
the breeze. 

6. ^ Horo-kwan, meditation on the Precious Towers, 

represe^iting the temples and altars (^^> dojo) in Paradise. 

7. ^ Hdza-kwan, meditation on the Precious Seat, 

representing Amitabha’s Lotus throne (Jiu*^, shinren). 

3- Gydzo-kwan, meditation on the Shapes (of 

Amida, Kwannon and Seishi, seated on lotus flowers and repre- 
sented as the “rulers of religious practice” (f^^, shushu). 

Hoshin-kwan, meditation on Amitabha’s Sam- 
bhoga-kaya, his “body of enjoyment”, as he manifests himself 
in celestial splendour, seated in Paradise, and represented as’ the 
“Ruler and Saviour” (^!^, sesshu). 

^9- ^ US’ Daihi-kwan, meditation on the Great Com- 
passionate One, i. e. Kwannon, represented as- the Leader (;^ 
^1 , setsu-in) to Paradise. Avalokitesvara, as the first of the two 
principal attendant Bodhisattvas of A'mitabha, represents his great 
compassion. 

H- Daichi-kwan, meditation on the Great Wise 

One, i. e. Daiseishi, represented as the “Universal Enlightener” 


’ Cf. the short Sukhavaii vyuha, Nanjo No. 200. 



330 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


fusho). Mahasthanaprapta, as the second of the two 
principal attendant Bodhisattvas of Amitabha, represents his great 
wisdom. 

12. Jishin-kwan, meditation on “one’s self, repre- 
sented as “reborn” ojo) in Paradise. Taki Seiichi (Kokkwa 

No. 249) considers this figure to be Fugen Bosatsu {Samanta- 
bhadra), but the sutra does not give this explanation. Fugen is 
the fifth of Amida’s 25 Bodhisattvas; ‘ there is no reason why 
his image should be represented here. Jishin is used here to 
designate the worshipper’s own person, reborn in Paradise, as 
we learn from the sutra itself, which states that he thus may 
see Amida’s whole Paradise and hear the sounds of the Law. 

13. ^ ^ Ojin-kwan, meditation on Amitabha’s higher 
Nirmana-kdya, his “body of transformation” in a higher sense 
than the keshin (-ft# ), - represented as “blessing the beings” 
(^I) #1. rimotsu). Amida (in a preaching attitude), Kwannon and 
Seishi, standing on lotus flowers in a pond, are represented as 
they manifest themselves to devout believers. 

14. Jobon, i. e. the “Welcome” (Raigo, ^^) of 

Amida with his Bodhisattvas, descending from Heaven, to the 
dying saints of the first degree, divided into three kinds of “rebirth”, 
josho, chusho and gesho, “Upper, 

Middle and Lower Birth”. 

15. Chubon, i. e. the “Welcome” to the three “births” 
of the second degree. 

16. pp, Gebon, i. e. the “Welcome” to the three “births” 
of the third degree. 

These nine scenes are represented in the bottom border of the 

' Butsuzo zui] ^ ^ ^ (A.D. 1690), H, p. 96. 

^ Cf. Me. Govern, An Introduction to Matiayana Buddhism (1922), p. 90. 
About the trikdya cf. also Eliot, Hinduism and Buddhism, II pp. 32 sqq.; 
about Amitabha, II pp. 28 sqq. 



Amitabha’s Paradise (Taema-mandara). 331 

picture, from right to left, and there are two different ways of 
representing them in the different copies of the Taema mandara, 
as described by Taki Seiichi in his third article on this subject 
{Kokkwa No. 251). We see the Buddha and the Bodhisattvas 
(many in the jobon, two in the chubon and gebon scenes; no 
Buddha or Bodhisattvas, but only a shining lotus flower inside 
the house of the lowest “birth” of the gebon) descending from 
and ascending to his paradise. The “births” of the jobon are 
saints, those of the chubon are virtuous men, and those of the 
gebon are sinners, who have caught fish, stolen a canopy from 
a temple, and criminals (lowest birth of the lowest degree), 
punished by means of the cangue or put to death on account of 
murder or other serious crimes. The gebon is, of course, the 
principal part of the subject in so far as the rites of repentance 
are concerned. 

The left border gives the ten scenes of the history of Prince 
AJatasdtra of Magadha, dealt with in the Kwangyo, and, as the 
eleventh, the opening scene of the sutra, where Sakyamuni with 
1250 followers are said to have assembled on the Vulture Peak. 
The Prince, incited by the wicked Devadatta (1), confines his 
father. King Bimbisara, in the palace and tries to kill him by 
starvation (2), but his mother. Queen VaidehT, brings him food (3). 
The Buddha, from the Vulture Peak seeing the drama, sends his 
disciples Maudgalyayana and Purna to King Bimbisara, who in 
prison hears them preaching the Law (4). Then his son arrives 
at the palace and asks whether his father has died (5), and on 
hearing the truth he is about to kill his mother; his ministers, 
however, persuade him not to commit this second crime (6). 
The Queen, imprisoned by her son, hears Maudgalyayana and 
Ananda, sent by the Buddha, preaching the Law (7). She sees 
her prison change into a paradise and worships the Buddha, 
enthroned before her eyes (8). At her question, how after his 
Nirvana living beings, surrounded by the evils of the world, 
shall be able to behold Amitabha's Paradise, the Buddha answers 



332 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


that she and the other living beings must concentrate their thoughts 
upon the West, looking at the selling sun as the first contem- 
plation; then they must meditate upon water, ice etc. (the sixteen 
meditations). Thus in a ray of light, shining from the Buddha’s 
head, Amitabha’s Paradise is visible to the eyes of the Queen 
(and her 500 female attendants). Also the King is blessed by a 
ray from the Buddha’s head (9). Finally the Buddha says to 
Ananda, that the name of the Sutra must be “Sutra on the con- 
templation of Paradise, the Buddha Amitabha and the Bodhisattvas 
Avalokitesvara and Mahasthanaprapta”, and that it shall “purify 
and take aw'ay the obstacles of deeds (i. e. consisting 
in deeds) and cause rebirth before the Buddhas”. 
“Even if virtuous men and women only hear the names of Amida, 
Kwannon and Seishi, this may take away their sins of innumerable 
kalpas. How much more if they meditate on them!” (10). Here 
again we have the link between this doctrine and the penitential 
services, since the removal of sins is the great aim of both. As 
to King AJatasatru, we saw above how important his repentance 
for having killed his father (which according to other versions 
of the tale he actually did) and the forgiveness obtained were 
considered to be with regard to the doctrine and rites of re- 
pentance. 

Repentance was, as stated before (§ 5, p. 261) sharply 
distinguished from regret (‘|^'j‘^, kegon, and 
which is one of the eight ties which keep mankind from salvation. 
This regret (of one’s good deeds of self-sacrifice and com- 
passion) is combined with doubt (with regard to the good 
results and the blessing power of those deeds) into the term 
gike, ^' 1 ^, “doubt and regret”, in the fifth of the 49 sutras, 
arranged and translated by Bodhiruci II in A.D. 713, and called 
by the collective name of Maharatnakuta-sutra, 

Daiho shokyo. This is the eleventh translation of the large SukhavatT 
vyuha, entitled Murydju-Nyorai-e {kyo), ^ ^ ^ W 

(,^), (“Sutra spoken by the Buddha on) an assembly on the 




Rebirth in Amitabha's Paradise. 


333 


Tathagata Amitayus” (Nanjo No. 23(5)). In this text Sakyamuni 
shows Maitreya Amitabha’s beautiful Paradise with its rivers and 
trees and lotus flowers and happy inhabitants, and explains to 
him why some of them are not born by transformation 
kesho) from the lotus flower upon which they are sitting cross- 
legged, but born from the womb (taisho, of the lotus. 

The former are the devout believers, who immediately after death 
are born from the lotus and walk about freely and make offerings 
to all the Buddhas and think upon them day and night and hear 
the sounds of the Law. The latter, however, are those who 
through doubt and regret could not develop belief in their 
own roots of virtue, although they earnestly endeavoured to 
obtain the highest wisdom. By hearing Amitabha's name faith in 
him has arisen in their hearts and they have been reborn in his 
Pure Lgmd, but for 500 years they have to remain within the 
lotus. It is pure and good there, but they cannot hear the sounds 
of the Law nor see the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and sravakas, 
nor make offerings to the Buddhas and put questions concerning 
the Law to the Bodhisattvas. If they remain without doubt and 
regret for 500 years, their sins are obliterated and they are born 
from the lotus, wherafter they are free and happy like the other 
inhabitants of Paradise. "Thus, Ajita (Maitreya)”, concludes the 
Buddha, “you must know that doubt and errprs greatly injure 
the Bodhisattvas”. Innumerable Bodhisattvas are reborn in Sukha- 
vatT, where nobody draws back on the road to Buddhaship and 
Nirvana (futai, avaivartya, futaiten, ^). Many 

of them have planted the roots of virtue, without receding, in 
numberless other Buddha lands, before being born in this heaven ; 
how much more are those, whose roots of virtue are still few! ' 
Gyogi Bosatsu (^ ^ (A.D. 670 — 749), a Hosso priest 

of Yakushiji, the founder of Ryobu-Sbinto, was also a worshipper 
of Amitabha and propagated his doctrine, but at the same time 


' Nanjo No. 23(5), large ed. p. 12 sqq. 



334 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


he explained the Maitreya cult and rebirth in the Tusita heaven. ' 
Kuya ShOnin A.)' Tendai priest Kwosho 

(A.D. 893—972), like Gyogi Bosatsu, combined Amitabha’s 
worship with that of the Eleven-faced Kwannon, whose image 
he led through the streets of the capital to drive away the pre- 
vailing plague (A.D. 951). In A.D. 944 (Tenkei 7) he made 33 
images of Kwannon, and a mandara of Amida’s paradise, and 
during the three last years of his life night after night he repeated 
the invocation of Amida’s holy name. - 

Eshin Sozu the Tendai priest Genshin 

(A.D. 942 — 1017), whose teacher, the Tendai priest Ryogen, 

i-e. Jie Daisojo (,^ ^, ^ ft jE) (912-985), wrote 
on the Kwbon ojd ( or “Rebirth of the nine classes 

of believers in Amida’s Paradise”, was a great scholar and painter. 
He was the first great propagandist of Amidism, and by his many 
writings, especially by his Ojo yoshu, , or “Collection 

of principal details on rebirth (in Amida’s heaven)”, as well as 
by his famous paintings, promoted its extension in a very efficient 
fashion.'* Taki Seiichi points out that the beauty of nature 
is highly appreciated by the Amida doctrine, and that Eshin S5zu 
and Honen Shonin (Genku, A.D. 1133 — 1212) felt this beauty 
deeply. Tradition says that Eshin Sozu had a vision at Yogawa 
on Hieizan, near his monastery, and beheld Amida, Kwannon and 
Seishi rising over the mountains; this formed the subject of the 
famous paintings of Yamagoshi Amida, , attri- 

buted to him. His Raigo or “Welcome” picture, a triptych (three 
kakemono’s) (on Koya san, Kokkwa No. 232, PI. Ill) is a splendid 
specimen of his supreme art. Preceded by Kwannon (holding the 
lotus sent for the soul to be reborn in Paradise) and Seishi 


‘ Washio, pp. 204 sq., s. v. Gyogi. 

2 Washio, pp. 350 sqq., s. v. K{w)osho. ' 
^ Washio, pp. 1175 sq., s. v. Ryogen. 

* Washio, p. 326, s. v. Genshin. 



Great propagandists of Amidism in Japan. 335 

(joining his palms in adoration) and followed by the Bodhisattvas 
Jizo (Kshitigarbha) (a priest with blazing pearl and abhaya- 
mudrd), Asvaghosha (?) and Nagarjuna (two adoring priests, the 
two first patriarchs of the latter Jodo sect) and a great number 
of other Bodhisattvas, making heavenly music, Amida, according 
to the 19 th of his 48 original vows, descends from heaven to 
welcome the holiest of the nine classes of believers. ’ The fact 
that Joto Mon-in, i. e. Fujiwara no Aki-ko, Ichijo Tenno’s Consort, 
who in A.D. 1026 beconre a nun and assumed the name of Jotd 
Mon-in, in A.D. 1030 erected a chapel in which she dedicated 
gold-coloured images of Amida, Kwannon and Seishi, jTzo and 
Nagarjuna, proves that she considered Nagarjuna, not Asvaghosha, 
to be the first teacher of the Amitabha doctrine. ^ Thus it may 
be that the two priests in Eshin Sozu's picture are not Asva- 
ghosha. and Nagarjuna, but Nagarjuna and Vasubandhu 
(the third patriarch of the Jodo sect). The so-called Amida go- 
butsu, are, in fact, Amida sanzon ( — !^), i. e. Amida, 

Kwannon and Seishi, accompanied by Jizo and Nagarjuna. ® They 
are represented in this way in a picture of the second half of 
the Kamakura period (l3th or 14th century) {Kokkwa No. 320, 
PI. V), where Amida, clad in a red robe, is seated in a meditative 
attitude on a high lotus throne (evidently a picture of the Shingon 
sect). Jizo holds the precious pearl in his left hand, the right 
palm being held up in front, in abhaya-mndra, and Nagarjuna 
joins his hands in adoration, just like in Eshin Sozu’s painting. 

The Raigo as well as the Yamagoshi Amida were borrowed 
from China and Central-Asia, where so many paintings were made 

' Cf. the present writer’s treatise on ‘^The Bodhisattva Ti-tsang {Jizo) 
in China and Japan (Berlin 1915), Ch. iii, § 3, Indo Jizo, the leader to 
Paradise, pp. 121 sqq. 

2 Faso ryakki, ^ “Abbreviated history of Japan”, written 

about A.D. 1150 by the pries* Kwo-en, IH) ’ ^e>kushi taikei 

Vol. VI, p. 782. 

® Bukkyo daijiten, p. 38, 2, s. v. Amida gobutsu. 



336 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of Amitabha and his paradise, well-known from the works of Sir 
Aurel Stein and Prof. Pelliot. As before stated, Shen-tao ' was 
the man who by his different paintings propagated the Amitabha 
doctrine in China; Eshin Sozu was the Shen-tao of japan. His 
landscapes, however, were painted in the Yamato-e style, and 
also his figures were treated in a typically Japanese manner. 
With regard to this subject and Eshin Sozu’s great importance 
as the eminent reformer of Buddhist painting in Japan the reader 
may be referred to Prof. Hamada Kosaku’s highly interesting 
article in the Kokkwa (No. 224, pp. 189 sqq.). Many later paintings 
of Araida’s “Welcome” and his “Coming over the mountains” 
were attributed to Eshin Sozu, although they belong to the latter 
part of the Fujiwara time and the Kamakura period. - As to famous 
sculptures'' representing Amida or the Amida sanzon (Amida, 
Kwannon and Seishi) we may refer to Kokkwa No. 308^ Pi. Vi 
and VII (the caves of Shantung (A.D. 562 and 658); Kokkwa 
No. 350, PI. VI (a votive offering, bronze image, A.D. 593); 
Kokkwa No. 110, PI. VII (A.D. 662—671, bronze, Kondo of 
Horyaji)] Kokkwa No. 148, PI. VII (Seiryoji, i. e. the Jodo shrine 
Shoryoji at Saga viliage, near Kyoto; wood, probably end of Qth 
cent.); Kokkwa No. 207, PI. VI {Kworyuji, wood, 9tb century); 
Kokkwa No. 172, PI. VII {Hoodd, Byodo-in, Uji in Yamashiro, 
wood, raigd, attrib. to Jocho (f 1057); Kokkwa No. 305, PI. Ill 
(Jizd-in on Koya-san, wood, attrib. to Unkyo (Unkei), end 12th, 
beginning 13th century); Kokkwa No. 189 (bronze, the Daibutsu 
of Kamakura, !a.D. 1252); Kokkwa No. 360, PI. VII, VIII (private 

' Shen-tao (Zends) is the third of the Five Ancestral Saints of the Jodo 
sect. Cf. Kokkwa No. 225 PI. U-; his portrait Kokkwa No. 343, PI. Ill, IV 
(in Chion-in, the central temple of the Jodo sect in Kyoto). 

2 Cf. Kokkwa No. 233, PI. 11 (Chion-in, 13th cent.); No. 338, PI. II, HI 
(Jofukuji, Kyoto, 13th cent.); No. 306 (Kofuku-in, 13th cent.); No. 156, 
PI. II (Zenrinji, Fujiwara period); No. 302, PI. 1 — III (Mr. Ueno Ritchi, 

Osaka, 12th cent.). As to Amida in Paradise (t/ftarmncaArra mudra) cf. Ko/cftwa 

No. 316, PI. I, II (Koya-san), (llth or 12th cent.), and Kokkwa No. 303, 
PI. II (Chion-in, end 12th cent., the Red Amida, Shingon sect). 



Eshin Sozu, Ryonin Shonin. 


337 


possession of Baron Morimura Kaisaku, Tokyo; three wooden 
(seated) images of Amida, Senju Kwannon and Miroku; honji of 
Hachiman] Shingon sect; early Ashikaga period, 14 th century. 
Very interesting on account of the connection between Amitabha 
and Maitreya!); and Kokkwa No. 263, PI. VIII {Shinno-in on 
Koya-san, wood, Amida sanzon (standing); end of Kamakura 
period, middle 14th century). 

Ryonin Shonin (^ ^' _L A )> who after his death was called 

Sho-o Daishi (lEigA&flf) (A.D. 1072— 1 132)^was a Tendai 
priest of Hieizan, who at the age of 23 retired to Ohara (AM) 
in Yamashiro, where he built the Raiko-in ( ^ ^ or “Temple 

of Amida’s Welcome”) and the Jorenge-in or 

“Temple of the Pure Lotus Flower”). There he recited the prayer 
(nembutsu) “Namii Amida Butsu” innumerable times a day, and 
was favoured by the Emperor Shirakawa, who in A.D. 1096 
requested him to shave his (the Emperor’s) head and became a 
monk, a Hd-d, ^ In A.D. 1117 (Eikyu 5) he founded the 
first Amida sect, the Viizu nembutsu sini (g^ IM. o*" 

“Sect of the Thoroughly Penetrating Prayer to AmitSbha”. He 
was also famous for his beautiful and powerful voice and his 
chants, especially for his “Secret Tune of the Rite of 
Repentance” sembo no hikyoku), which was 

speadily studied by a large number of monks of the great temples 
of Nara. ' In A.D. 1124 he was called to the Palace and in the 
presence of the Emperor Toba and his Consort Taiken Mon-in 
(Fujiwara no Tama-ko, who in that year became a nun) led a 
meeting (a Yuzu nembutsu-e), attended by all the officials. The 
Emperor presented him with a, mirror which he himself had 
used for many years, and with a yuzu nembutsu kwanjincho 
(^^^ij^), a subscription book for contributions for pious 


' Cf. below, this paragraph, C, as to Jikaku Daishi’s SAomyo mystic 

chants, which he introduced from China (A.D. 847) and transferred to his 
pupils; these were the hymns sung by Ryonin Shonin 250 years later. 

22 



. '338 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


purposes (litt. a book of exhortation and promotion, namely of 
virtuous deeds), made by himself. Like Kuya Shonin and Eshin 
Sozu Ryonin Shonin travelled through the country and preached 
in the streets (as Shen-tao had done in China) and finally he 
settled in Hirano (Settsu province), where he founded the central 
seat of the sect, Dai-nernbutsu-ji. ' 

Honen Shonin A). the Tendai priest Genku 

(A.D. 1133 — 1212), one of whose posthume names is Enkwo 
Daishi (Bl* A Sili). after reading Qenshin (Eshin Sozu)’s 
OJo yoshu became a fervent adherent of the Amida doctrine and 
preached the power of the nembutsu, repeating the formula Namu 
Amida Butsu thousands of times a day. The monks of Hieizan 
caused him to be banished to Sanuki in A.D. 1207, but four 
years later he returned to Kyoto and founded the famous centre 
of the Jodo sect, Chion-in (^/^l^). He was the founder of 
this sect (A.D. 1175) (afterwards divided into five branches), but 
Kuya, Eshin and RyOnin had paved the way. After his death 
many Emperors successively bestowed upon him posthumous 
titles, to show their great attachment to his doctrine and their 
devout belief in Amitabha. ® 

Shinran ShOnin ( 7 ^^^ _ll ^) (A.D. 1173 — 1262), who after 
the Restauration received the posthumous title of Kenshin Daishi 
(Mi ^ 3 “Great Master who saw the Truth”) studied 

the Tendai and Jodo doctrines as a pupil of Jichin and Genku 
(A.D. 1203), ® but in A.D. 1224 wrote a work which became the 
base of the Jodo shinshu, “The True Sect of the Pure Land”, 
also called Monto-shu (P^^^), the “Sect of Followers of 
the Doctrine” and Ikkd-shu ( — ■ |hJ ^), the “Sect which turns 
to one side”, i. e. which devotes itself exclusively to the prayer 

‘ Washio, pp. 1191 sq. s. v. Ryonin-, Papinot, p. 607. 

^ Washio, pp. 322 sqq. s. v. Genku-, Papinot, p. 132. 

^ In A.D. 1207, when Genku was banished to Sanuki, Shinran went in 
exile to Echigo; he was allowed to return in A.D. 1211, the same year as 
his teacher. 



Honen, Shinran, Ippen Shonin. 


339 


to Amitabha. In consequence of a revelation by Kwannon, who 
appeared to him in the Rokkaku-do, ‘ he explained the Jodo in 
an abstract way, rejected the celibacy of the monks and abstinence 
from animal food, and considered his doctrine to be the only 
true one. Thus being the Protestant of Buddhism, he wrote a 
large number of books about his doctrine. Ten years after his 
death, in A.D. 1272, the main temple of his sect was built and 
called Hongwanji (Kyoto), afterwards Nishi Hongwanji, “Western 
Temple of the Original Vows”, since in A.D. 1602 a Higashi 
Hongwanji was erected. These original vows {pranidhana) of 
Amitabha, twenty-one in number in the older texts, have been 
extended to forty-eight in the Kwangyo (Ch. 1), Nos. 18 and 19, 
the nembutsu ojd and raigo injo ( ^| ^), “Rebirth in Paradise 
by virtue of the prayer to Amitabha” and “Amitatfha’s descent 
and v/elcome of souls to Paradise”, being those of the highest 
importance. The Jodo Shinshu was afterwards divided into 10 
branches. ^ 

Ippen ShOnin ( — ■ J^) (A.D. 1239 — 1289), also originally 

a Tendai priest, Chishin (:^ ^) by name, travelled so much 
through the country to save the people, that they called him 
Yugyd Shonin or “The Travelling Reverend”. 

He distributed so-called nembutsu charms (fuda), and numberless 
names were written in his subscription lists {kwanjincho). He 
preached the saving power of the Narnu Amida Butsu formula, 
and in A.D. 1275, after having stayed for a hundred days in the 
temple of Kumano Gongen and having obtained a divine revelation, 
he founded the so-called Ji-shu ( 0# ^) or “Sect of the Times”. 
This name is an abbreviation of Rokuji-ojd-shu ( -/; ^ ^ 

^) or “Sect of the Rebirth in Amida's Paradise by (the prayer 
repeated) six times”. This means that Shen-tao’s Ojd raisan 

‘ A Nyoirin Kwannon chapel in the Tendai shrine Chohoji (Unrinji), 
Kyoto, cf. Daijii III, p. 3346. • 

2 Washio, pp. 473 sqq.; Papinot, p. 674. Concerning the 48 vows cf. 
Daijiten, p. 717, 3. 



340 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


should be practised, the rokuji raisan, a hymn 
to be recited in worship of Amitabha six times a day (i. e. thrice 
in the day-time and thrice at night), being part of this work. 
These six times were, of course, borrowed from the rites oi 
repentance of the Tendai sect, performed in accordance with the 
Bodhisattva-pitaka (see above, § 3, p. 258) and other texts, 
mentioned in the preceding paragraphs. 

Eshin Sozu had already written a Gokiiraku rokujisan, ^ 
0^ or “Praise of SukhavatT, to be performed six times” 
(thrice in the day-time and thrice at night). 

In A.D. 1886 the posthume title of Ensho Daishi ( |B| ^ 

or “Great Master of Universal Enlightenment” was bestowed 
upon Ippen Shonin. The Ji-shu is the last of the Amida sects; 
afterwards it was divided into 13 branches. ’ 

Before the eleventh century the annals do not pay much 
attention to Amitabha’s doctrine. As we saw above, in A.D. 652 
(IV 15) Eon expounded the Muryojukyo, and in A.D. 760 and 
761 the Emperor Junnin ordered that on behalf of the Empress 
Dowager’s soul in every province a painting of Amida’s Paradise 
should be made, the Shosan-Jodo-kyo copied and Amida worshipped, 
the Amida-jodo-in erected in the compound of Hokkeji and in 
all the kokubunji images of the Amida sanzon should be dedi- 
cated, whereas a yearly service of seven days had to be held 
for her in Hokkeji by ten monks in worship of Amitabha. " The 
Taema mandara (A.D. 763) is not mentioned in the official annals; 
there Amida's cult does not reappear on the scene until A.D. 886 
(VII 22). Then we^ read that the Risshi Ryukai {a Hosso 

priest of Gwangoji) ® died, making the MuryoJa-Nyorai-in or 
“Mudrd of the Buddha Amitayus” with his right hand ; when his 
body was burnt, only the mudra remained intact. * 

' Washio, p. 796; Papinot, p. 239. 

2 Nihon^i, Ch. xxv, p. 453; Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xxiii, p. 384, p. 391. 
Washio, p. 1151, 1, s. v. Ryukai. 

“ Nihon kiryaka, Zempen, Ch, xx, p. 737. 



Amidism in Japan in the 10th and 11th cent. A.D. 341 


The Gokurakuji (;^ ^ or “Temple of (Amida’s) Paradise" 
at the Fukakusa cemetery in Kii district, Yamashiro province, built 
by Fujiwara no Mototsune (A.D. 836 — 891), is mentioned in A.D. 919 
(XII 28), when a service with recital of texts was held there in 
honour of the 40th birthday of his son Tadahira (A.D. 880 — 949), 
who at that time had the rank of Udaijin. ' 

In A.D. 964 (Koho 1, VII 5), when the Shosozu Saigen (^ 
vi^)j died, a Hosso priest of Yakushiji in Yamato, “there was 
a lucky omen of his rebirth in Amida’s Paradise, Ojo gokuraku 
no zui.” ^ This bishop had studied the Sanron and practised the 
Nembutsu sammai ( ^ ^ , samadhi with prayers to Ami- 

tabha, based upon the Kwangyo). ' 

In A.D. 966 (Koho 3, IV 7), one year after the *death of the 
Udaijin Fujiwara no Akitada, a service was held on behalf of 
his soul in Gokurakuji, the temple mentioned above (A.D. 919). * 
And in A.D. 969 (XII, 28), a Afanrfo-e or “Festival of Ten thousand 
Lamps” (see above. Chapter VII, § 7) was held in the same 
sanctuary. 

In A.D. 1008 (Kwanko 5, VIII 14) Kawa Shonin, ^ ig A . 
“the Saint with the skin (the furs)”, i. e. the foreign Tendai priest 
Gyo-en (^ [g|) (f 1047), who was a devout performer of the 
Amida rites, ° began so-called Shijuhakko ( 0 -h A 
eight Expoundings”, i. e. a meeting for expounding the 48 vows 
of Amida, which lasted from VIII 14 to X 3 (this must be 48 
days, so that it may have begun a day later: 16 days in VIII, 
30 in IX, 2 in X), in order to examine and judge Amitabha’s 
48 vows. This was, says the annalist, a gyakushu (^ f^), i. e. 


‘ Ibid., Kohen, Ch. i, p. 803. 

2 Ibid., Ch. IV, p. 902. 

2 Washio, p. 393, 2, s. v. Saigen. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, Kohen, Ch. iv, p. 909. 
^ Ibid., Ch. VI, p. 931. 

® Washio, p. 202, 1, s. v. Gyo-en. 



342 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

a yoshu a rite “practised beforehand”, to obtain felicity 

after death. ' 

In A.D. 1016 (Chowa 5) the Shingon priest Jinkaku (*^ 

A.D. 955 — 1043, a son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, afterwards head 
of Toji) founded the Amitayus temple Muryoju-in ^ 

1^) on Koya-san. Evidently the Shingon sect as well as the 
Tendai sect began to pay special attention to the Amida cult. - 

In A.D. 1022 (VII 14) the greatest of the Fujiwaras, Michinaga, 
dedicated the Golden Hall of Hojoji ( The ceremony 

was attended by the Emperor Go Ichijo and his Court, and led 
by the Tendai-zasu Ingen year before (A.D. 1021, 

XU 2) Michinaga had enlarged the MuryoJu-in, M ^ ^ 
or “Temple of Amitayus”, founded by him in A.D. 1020 (III 22) 
in the compound of this Tendai sanctuary, and nembutsu (prayers 
to Amida) were performed incessantly for three nights. In A.D. 1026 
(Manju 3, III 20) the Hojoji Amida-dd (^) or Amida chapel of 
Hojoji was dedicated, and in the same year (IX 9) the Murydju- 
in-misanjuko (f^pfff*^) or “Meeting for expounding the thirty 
chapters” (in thirty days) was held there for the first time. Each 
day one chapter was dealt with, for on the 14 th of the same 
month the fifth chapter was explained. ■* This was a Tendai cere- 
mony, also called the Hokke sanju-ko, in which the 28 chapters 
of the Lotus sutra, preceded by the Muryogi-kyo (NanjS No. 133) 
and followed by the Fugen kwangyd (Nanjo No. 394), in all 30 
chapters, were expounded (cf. above, § 8, p. 270). In consequence 
of a vow the Mido Kwampaku (fjlp ^ |^ ^ ), f. e. Michinaga, 
had begun to perform this ceremony in his villa, and the Emperor 
Go Ichijo transferred it to Hojoji and celebrated it with great 
pomp, in the presence of all the court nobles.® In A.D. 1027 (V5) 

‘ Cf. Daijiten, p. 272, 3, s. v. gyakushu, and p. 1771, 1, s. v . yoshu. Nihon 
kiryaku, Kohen, Ch. xi, p. 1073. 

2 Washio, p. 480, 2, s. V. Jinkaku-, Daijii 111, p. 4355, 2, s. v. Muryoju-in. 

^ Nihon kiryaku, Kohen, Ch. xiii, p. 1130. 

“ Ibid., pp. 1139 sq, 

* Daijii, III, p. 4098, 1, s. v. Hokke sanju-ko. 



Amidism in Japan in the 11th cent. A.D. 343 

a Shaka image, sixteen feet high, was dedicated in this Murydju-in, 
and in the same year Michinaga died there (XII 4); some days 
before the Prince Imperial on account of Michinaga’s illness had 
gone to the Amida-do of Hdjoji.^ The next year (A.D. 1028,1X9) 
a service was held in the same chapel on behalf of the soul of 
the former Empress Dowager (Michinaga’s daughter), the anni- 
versary of whose death was thus celebrated in worship of Ami- 
tabha. - In A.D. 1030, as stated above, Joto Mon-in, Go Ichijo 
Tenno’s mother Fujiwara no Aki-ko (also a daughter of Michi- 
naga, and the first Empress who, after having become a nun, 
took the title of Mon-in), erected a chapel in honour of Amida, 
Kwannon and Seishi, Jizo and Nagarjuna. Five years later (A.D. 
1035, III 25), two days after Fujiwara no Tadanobu’s death, Joto 
Mon-in held a Hokke hakko (^ ^ /\ ^) and* dedicated a 
silver image of Amida Butsu. 

Thus we see how the mightiest of the Fujiwaras and the whole 
Imperial Court were devout adherents of the Amitabha cult in 
connection with the Tendai doctrine, and that the beginning of 
the eleventh century, the very time of Eshin SOzu’s propaganda, 
opened a new era of the history of Amidism in japan. First the 
Hosso priests, then (after Kuya Shonin) the Tendai men connected 
their doctrines with that of Amida’s “Easy Way”. 

C. Amida-kekwa and sembo in Japan {from A.D. 782 to 
the present day). , 

About A.D. 782 the Hosso priest Shokai ( ^ y^) of Kofukuji 
in Nara was the first to celebrate ^ penitential service in worship 
of Amitabha and to write a work entitled Amida-kekwa. As he 
also wrote a “Collection of prayers to the Buddha of the West”, 
Saiho nembutsu shu, he appears to have been a devout propagator 

« 

‘ Nihon kiryaku, Kohen, Ch. xm, pp. 1143, 1145. 

^ Ibid., p. 1149. 



344 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of Amitabha’s cult. ‘ This agrees with the fact, stated above, that 
the Hqssd priests were the first who paid attention to this doctrine. 

The ancient annals, however, are silent with regard to the 
Amida-kekwa. The connection was easily found between the repen- 
tance necessary to the sinners of the gebon or lowest category 
of the Kwangyd and the bottom border of the Taema mandara, 
and to Prince Ajatasatru of Magadha (whose crimes are treated 
there as well as in the texts of repentance), and the penitential 
rites of the Tendai and other sects. In China Sheii-tao appears 
to have perceived this, for the rokuji raisan hymn is evidence 
of his having borrowed from the T‘ien-t‘ai sect the idea of the 
penitential rites, repeated six times a day (thrice in the day-time 
and thrice at night). A century later the Japanese Hosso priest 
Shdkai saw the same connection, and wrote about the Amida- 
kekwa, which rite may have sprung up in China after Shen-tao. 

The Tendai priest Ennin (j0 'fH) (A.D. 794 — 864), zasu (J^ 
head-abbot) of Enryakuji on Hieizan, i. e. the famous Jikaku 
Daishi ( }^ % ^ ), from A.D. 838 to 847 studied and travelled 

in China, meeting many eminent priests and learning from them 
the details of the public and mystic branches of the Tendai 
doctrine. On his return to Japan in A.D. 847, he was soon 
appointed Daihoshi (848) and Tendai zasu (851), and wrote a 
large number of important works. He copied a book entitled 
Saiho sembo (® ^5^ ^) or “Rite of Repentance of the West”, 

which rite is identical with the Amida sembo, and which he may 
have practised on Hieizan. 

In A.D. 818 (VII 27) Dengyo Daishi, the founder of the Tendai 
sect in Japan, enjoined upon his disciples the task of practising 
the four kinds of samadhi, and ordered Jikaku Daishi to build 
a Joza-sammai-do (*^ ^ or “Chapel for constantly 

' Washio, p. 629, I, s. v. Shdkai; Daijiten, p. 382, 3, s. v. Amida-kekwa, 

quoting the Jodo hdmon Genrusho, urn •y' , written 

A.D. 1311 by the Kegon priest Gyonen (^| (A.D. 1240—1321). 



Atnida sembo, Mida nembutsu. 


345 


sitting samadhi”. Two months later the building was finished 
and Jikaku Daishi entered samadhi, whereupon he practised 
religious austerities for six years. After having been in China 
from A.D. 838 to 847, in A.D. 848 (Showa 15) he erected a new 
Jdgyd-sammai-dd or “Chapel for the constant practice of samadhi”, 
and in A.D. 851 (Ninju 1) he transmitted the rites of the Nem- 
butsu sammai to all his disciples, and began to perform the Mida 
nembutsu or “Prayers to Amitabha". ‘ 

These Mida nembutsu, also called Nembutsu sammai or Jogyo 
sammai, performed from A.D. 851 by Jikaku Daishi in the Jogyodo 
on Hieizan and chanted with a drawling voice (insho nembutsu, 
§1 »±«. insho gyodo, insho Amida kyo),'^ were 

the origin of the so-called reiji ("^J B^), “fixed times” or reiji 
saho ), “rites of fixed times”, consisting of the daily 

reading of the Amitabha sutras and the recital or singing of the 
insho nembutsu at the yu-reiji or “fixed evening-times”, in order 
to obliterate sin and create felicity. These rites, although specially 
observed by the adherents of the Jodo sect, are also performed 
daily by all the Tendai priests, who in the morning practise the 
the asa-sembo (i. e. the Hokke sembo, to be treated below) and 
in the evening the yu-reiji (together called asa-sembo yu-reiji, 
“morning rites of repentance and fixed evening rites”), thus com- 
bining the penitential rites of the Lotus sUtra, the main basis of 
their doctrine, with the Amitabha cult. 

' Daijii, I, p. 75, 1, s. v. Amida sembo, quoting the Chosairoku, ^ 
(Vol. II), possibly written by Chosai, a Jodo priest of Kuhonji, who 
lived in the beginning of the 13th century; it was printed in A.D. 1662 and 
is devoted to the Amitabha doctrine In India, China and Japan {Kokusho 
kaidai, p. 1382, 2). Also the Jukkwaishd ( Slklt# ), written by the Jodo 
priest Shunsho ) (who lived A.D. 1255 — 1335) is quoted (I.l.) with 

regard to Jikaku Daishi’s Saifib sembo. 

^ Daijiten, p. 94, 3, s. v. mshd. As to the jdgyd-sammai cf. above, § 12, C, ^ 
\,b, p. 287, hanju-sammai. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1810, 1, s. v. reiji-, p. 16, 1, s. v. asa-sembo yu-reiji. 



346 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


As to the Jogyo chapel, this was originally situated in the rear 
of the Akasagarbha chapel on Hieizan, but his pupil, the Tendai 
priest Sb-o Osho, who in 864 had received his teacher’s last 
will, in 866 transplaced the chapel to the North side of the Kodo 
or “Expounding Hall” on Hieizan. ‘ As we shall see 
below (Ch. VIII, § 18) Jikaku Daishi also performed the Hokke 
sembo in the Hokkedo (built together with the Jogyo-sammaido 
in A.D. 848) on Hieizan. 

His disciple So-o Osho the Reverend So-o, 

A.D. 831 — 918) was a faithful and famous pupil of his great 
master. By means of the mystic rites, learned from him (especially 
the Fiido-Miyoo-ho or “Rite of Acala Vidya-raja") he cured the 
Emperors Seiwa, Uda and Daigo and their consorts ; he worshipped 
Fudo Myd-d, Dai-Nichi Nyorai (Vairocana), Fugen Bosatsu (5a- 
mantabhadra), Miroku {Maitreya, in whose Inner Palace of the 
Tushita Heaven he hoped to be reborn), but finally took his 
refuge in Ainida, as his teacher had done, and died in devout 
prayer to him, with his face to the West. “ 

Jikaku Daishi introduced the Shomyd bombai ( 

chants of the mystic branch of the Tendai sect (Taimitsn, ^) 

and transferred them to his disciples, and Ryonin (^^^^) 
(A.D. 1072 — 1132), the founder of the Yuzu nembutsu sect, 
mentioned above (same paragraph, B) sang these secret hymns 
with great zeal and a magnificent voice in the Raiko-in, the 
celebrated Amida sanctuary at Ohara in Yamashiro, founded by 
him. ^ One of them was the “Tune of the Rite ofRepen- 

' Daijiten, p. 963, 1, s. v. Jogyodo-, Daijii 11, p. 2553, 3, s. v. Jogyodo-, 
Ranjosho, 11, Gunsho ruiju No. 465, Vol. XVI, p. 985, where So-o is said to 
have stated in A.D. 866, that Jikaku Daishi had extended his original vow 
of performing continual (fudan) nembutsu for 3X7 days and nights into 
same jogyo sammai {same is past, present and future). 

^ Washio, pp. 742 sqq., s. v. So-o. 

^ Daijiten, p. 791, 2, s. v. shomyo and shomyoke. 

Daijii, I.I.; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxix ?• 1153. 



Mystic chants of the Taimitsu. 


347 


tance”, sembo no kyoku ( ^ ), which, as stated above, became 
very popular among the priests of the large temples of Nara. ’ 
Two hundred and fifty years earlier Jikaku Daishi had sung this 
"beautiful chant of the Rite of Repentance with a voice, intimately 
familiar with these penitential songs”, as Fujiwara no Arifusa 
states in his Nomori no kagami (A.D. 1293 — 1298). Among those 
who transmitted these secret songs were Ryogen 
Daisojo, ^ M ^ IE ) (A.D. 912 — 985), who, as stated above, 

wrote about the rebirth of the nine classes of believers in Amida’s 
Paradise, and Eshin Sozu (A.D. 942 — 1017), the famous propa- 
gandist of Amida’s worship. •' Thus it is clear that these musical 
rites, although belonging to the mystic branch of the Tendai sect, 
were closely connected with the penitential ceremonies of the 
Amida doctrine, the Ainida sembo, which Jikaku Daishi is said 
to have transmitted at the same time and to have often practised 
in the Imperial Palace. * 

The priests of the Jodo sect used to perform the Amida sembo 
and in the Tokugawa time they made it a regular rite of Zojoji, 
the famous ancestral shrine of the Tokugawa family 
in the Shiba district of Yedo. Also the Jodo Shinshu used it as 
a regular ceremony from olden times. In the third month of 
A.D. 1711 (Shotoku 1), at the celebration of the 450th anniversary 
of Shinran Shonin’s death, nocturnal Amida sembo performed. ® 
The Bukkyb daijii describes the rites of the Amfcfa practised 

by the Hongwanji branch of the Jodo Shinshu.^ 

The doshi ( ^ ani ), the “Leading Master” of the ceremony, 


‘ Washio, p. 1191, s.v. Rydnin; Daijii, III, p. 4534, 1. 

^ Nomori no kagami, written A.D. 1293 — 98 by Fujiwara 

no Arifusa Gunsho ruiju No. 484, Vol. XVII, zatsubu No. 39, 

P. 507. 

^ Genkb Shakusho, I.l. , 

^ Daijii, 1, p. 75, 1, s.v. Amida sembo. 

® Hongwanji tsuki, Ch. m, quoted in the Daijii, 1.1. 



348 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and the monks having taken their places, the doshi ascends the 
raiban (jjjg ^)- This is a high seat for worshipping the Buddhas, 
placed in front of the shumi-dan 1®) “altar of Mount 

Sumeru"', also called shumi-za ( ^ ), “seat of Mount Sumeru", a 
high pedestal, slender in the middle in imitation of the shape 
of the mythical mountain, with the honzon or principal image 
placed upon it. A kyoki or “sdtra desk” is placed before 

the raiban or “worshipping basin”, i. e. the pulpit; on the right 
hand side a gong, on the left is placed a stand with an e-goro 
(#5 # 1 ^) or “handle-incense-burner”, also called shuro ( ^m) 
or “hand-incense-burner”. On having ascended the pulpit, the 
leading priest strikes the gong (chokei, squats down 

(songo, sonkyo, ^ beats the gong again, bows in worship 
of the Triratna (sorai sambo, strikes the gong, 

kneels down {koki, “Mongol kneeling”, with the right 

knee on the ground, as the sutras prescribe), and recites a 
“sacrificial text” {kuyo-mon, of 16 lines. Then he 

beats the gong, squats down, and reads the kyorai-mon ( ^ jjj® 
or “Text of reverence and worship”, and all the monks, 
with the shomyo-hon ( or “book of chants” in their 

left hand and a folding fan in their right, stand and full of devotion 
read the same text. 

After this recital the monks sit down {heiza, zp 

4^ ), where- 
upon the leading priest, in a kneeling attitude (the right knee 
upon the ground), recites the sange-mon or “Text of Repentance” 
(cf. above, § 9, p. 276). 

Then he descends from the pulpit, puts his folding fan in his 
breast, takes the incense-burner and a flower-basket, and recites 
standing the names of the Buddha (Amida) and the Bodhisattvas 
{Kwannon and Seishi). All the monks recite them together, standing 
before their seats, and, after having made one bow with their 
hands joined upon their breasts {ichi-yu, — ■ ^ ), they make the 
pradaksina circumambulation around the image, with the right 
sides turned to it (gyodo, ^ ^)- Flowers are scattered each 



Amida sembo of the Jodo sect in ZOjoji. 349 

time when (repeating Amida's invocation) they reach the word 
namu, eleven times in all. 

Thereupon the leading priest squats on the right side of the 
Buddha, puts down the flower-basket, takes a book (the Kwangyo) 
and the incense-burner, stands up and reads the text (the passage 
on the contemplation of Amitabha’s Dharmakaya). All the monks 
squat down, recite the sCitra in chorus and make the circum- 
ambulation. 

Then the leading priest squats down, takes the flower-basket, 
stands up and recites the nembutsu (prayer to Amida). All the 
monks take flower-baskets, recite the nembutsu in chorus, make 
one bow with their hands upon their breasts, and perform the 
circumambulation, scattering flowers at each line of the prayer. 

Then the leading priest descends from the pulpit, s(ops repeating 
the nembutsu and recites a hymn of praise {bai, ), joined in 
chorus by the monks. After having finished this the leading priest 
again ascends the pulpit and the monks remain standing before 
their seats. 

Thereupon the leading priest beats the gong, squats down, 
bows thrice, rises, bows again and recites the vows, joined in 
chorus by the monks who after having taken their seats squat 
down after the recital. 

Then the leading priest beats the gong, sits down and recites 
the sixteen lines of the Buddha’s hymn (gatha)-, the monks also 
sit down. 

Finally the leading priest beats the gong twice, descends from 
the pulpit, returns to his original seat and withdraws, followed 
by the monks, ' 

We learn from this description ftiat besides the “sacrificial text”, 
the “text of reverence and worship", the “chanting book", the 
“text of repentance”, the nembutsu and the hymns of praise, the 
Kwangyo (Nanjo No. 198) is the principal text of this ceremony. 


‘ Daijii, I, p. 75, 2, s.v. Amida sembo. 



350 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Another text, used (by the Jodo sect) in performing these rites, 
is the Mida Butsu sembo or “Rite of Repentance in worship of 
the Buddha Amitabha”, the printing blocks of which were pre- 
served in Sanenzan ( ^ 7 ^ |Jj ), i. e. the Jodo sanctuary Zdjoji 
in Tokyo. The author of this work is unknown. The ceremony 
itself is also called Muryoju sembo. ' Also Honen Shonin (Genku) 
(A.D. 1133 — 1212) is said to have written a work of one chapter, 
entitled Amida-kyo sembo or “Rite of Repentance based upon 
the Amitabha sutra”. “ 

P§ 17. Hokwo {Daitsu hokwo), Shaka, Jizo and Miroku-kekwa. 
Suisembo or “Penitential Rites by means of (samadhi) 

water” (Nanjo No. 1523). Eisen (;;^<.'I^) (Nanjo No. 1004). 
Sensatsu-sen ( ^ 'f'^) (Nanjo No. 464). Jihi-sembo ( ^ 

) or “Rites of Repentance in worship of the Merciful and 
Compassionate (Buddha)” (Nanjo No. 1509). Kwannon sernbd 

(Nanjo No. 137). 

The Hokwo kekwa ) or “ Vaipulya Repentance” . 

was a rite performed by the Emperor KOnin during three days 
in A.D. 774 (Hoki 5, Xil 15 — 17) in the Imperial Palace. Evidently 
it was intended to purify the Court and the country from sin 
towards the end of the year. Therefore it is considered to be 
the forerunner or origin of the Butsumyo sange, treated below 
(§ 19). It was based on the Daitsu hokwo sange metsuzai shogon 
Jobutsu kyd 

spurious sutra used from olden times in the Butsumyo sange 
rites of Japan, ^ In A.D. 823 (Konin 14, XII 23) Junna Tenno 
invited the Daisozu ChSe (^ ^)> the Shosozu Gonsb ( Mi 
(a Sanron priest) and the Daihoshi Kukai (^J^) (the great 

* Daijifen, p. 1050, 1, s.v. Amida sembo, quoting the Ninniku zakki, I. 

^ Daljii, 1, p. 72, 1, s.v. Amida-kyo sembo, quoting the Chosairoku, re- 
ferred to above, same paragraph, C, p. 345, note 1. 

^ Daijii, III, p. 3192, 3, s.v. Daitsu-hdkwbkyb-,\\\, p. 4030, 2, s.v. Butsumyo-e. 



Various rites of repentance. 


351 


Shingon priest Kobo Daishi) to the Palace, where they passed 
the night in performing the Daitsu hokwo no ho 
^ in the Seiryoden. ' This was the second instance of such 
penitential services at the end of the year. 

In the Ranjosho written by an unknown author 

(the last date mentioned in this work is A.D. 1252) the Shaka 
kekwa, a penitential service in worship of Sakyamuni, celebrated 
in Daianji, one of the seven great Buddhist temples of Nara, is 
mentioned in A.D. 832 (Tencho9) in connection with the Yuima-e 
(X 10 — 16) and Saishd-e (111 7 — 13) of Kofukuji and Yakushiji 
(yearly in the eighth month expounding of the Yuima-kyd and 
the Saishod-kyo). ~ 

The author of the article on kekwa in the Bukkyo daijii 
(I, p. 1002, 2) refers to the Engishiki (“Ceremonies -’of the Engi 
era”, A.D. 901 — 923) (without indicating the chapter) with relation 
to the Jizo-kekwa of the Shingon shrine Kajdji (^jj^^) in 
Kii district, Yamashiro (erected in A.D. 850, the last year of the 
Kajo era, by NimmyS Tenno and dedicated by Kobe Daishi's 
brother and disciple Shinga), and among the different kinds of 
kekwa he mentions the Miroku-kekwa, penitential services in 
worship of Maitreya, without indicating the passage where this 
ceremony is dealt with. 

The suisembo or “Rite of Repentance by means 

of water” was practised by the T‘ien-t‘ai priest Chi-hiien {9^ 

(A.D. 809 — 881) (Nanjo App. Ill 40), the author of the work 
entitled Jihi-suisembo, plfC (Nanjd No. 1523) or 

“Rite of Repentance by means of the Water of Mercy and Com- 
passion”. Under the reign of the T‘ang Emperor I-tsung (A.D. 
860—873) he met with Kanaka *Bharadvaja, the third of the 
Sixteen Arhats, ® who advised him to cure an ulcer on his knee 

‘ Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xiv, p. 446 {Nihon koki, Ch. xxxi). 

^ Ranjosho, II, Gansho ruiju, Nr. 465, Vol. XVI, p. 982, 1. 

^ Cf. the present writer’s treatise entitled “The Arhats in China and Japan’* 
(Berlin 1923), Ch, iii, § 1, p. 59. 



352 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


by washing it with samadhi water. As he was cured immediately, 
he wrote the afore-said work and thus combined the purifying 
power of samadhi with that of penitence. This account is given 
in the preface by the Emperor Ch‘eng-tsu in A.D. 1416. ‘ 


The practice of eisen or “eternal repentance”, based 

upon Nanjo No. 1034 (the Rishu-kyo, translated 

between A.D. 746 and 771 by Amoghavajra), i.e. the rishu raisan 

fishu sammai {samadhi), was the daily task 
of the Shingon priest Myosen (1^ (A.D. 1076 — 1169), as 

we learn from his biography. ' 

The sensatsu-sen ( ^ “repentance of the divinatory 

investigation (of the retribution of virtuous and evil actions)’’, 
based upon Nanjo No. 464 (the Sensatsu-zenaku-gyohO-kyd, 

^ ^ ^ ^ translated in the Sui dynasty (A.D. 589-618) 

by BodhidTpa, and described by the Chinese priest 

Suh-chi 0%:^) of the Ming dynasty, was performed in A.D. 
1697 by the Tendai priest KwOsen (;;^ (A.D. 1652 — 1739).° 

The Jihi-sembo, “Rite of Repentance in 

worship of the Merciful and Compassionate One”, was based 
upon Nanjo No. 1509 {Jihi dojo, sembo or “Rite of 

Repentance practised at the altar of the Merciful and Compassionate 
One (the Buddha)”. The preface of this work, which consists of 
10 fasciculi and 40 chapters (the name of the author being un- 
known), states that it was first compiled in the Yung-ping era 
(A.D. 483 — 4931 by a prince named Siao Tsze-liang, and that 
afterwards (in the T‘ien-kien era, A.D. 502 — 520) it was revised 
by an eminent priest of the Liang dynasty. Tao-siien (^ *^, 
A.D. 596 — 667), however, in his famous “Continuation of the 
Biographies of Eminent Priests” {Zoku kosoden, 




' Nanjo No. 1523; Daijiten, p. 1049, 3, s.v. sembo-, Suppl. of the Tripifaka 
(Dai Nihon zokuzokyo), ^ It 2, 3. 

^ Washio, p. 1083, 1. 

® Washio, p. 343, 1, s.v. Kbsen. 



Various rites of repentance. 


353 


Nanjo No. 1493) which deals with Buddhist priests who lived 
between A.D. 519 and 645, states that the present work was 
originally written by Wu Ti the first Emperor of the 

Liang dynasty, who reigned A.D. 502 — 549, and that it was 
enlarged by a priest, named Chang-kwan or Hwui-shih. ' According 
to tradition Wu Ti wrote this work, then entitled Jihi-sembo, and 
invited Buddhist priests to lead a penitential service, because the 
ghost of his very jealous concubine had appeared to him in a 
dream in the shape of a huge snake. After this meritorious deed 
of the Emperor she became an angel and was reborn in heaven; 
flying in the air she thanked the Emperor for this great favour. 
He never appointed another lady his Consort. - 
The Kwannon-sembo is based upon the Kwannongyo, i. e. the 
Kwanzeon Bosatsu Fumonbon tlp)> 25th Section of 

the Lotus Sutra (Hokkekyd), dealt with above (Ch. I, § 11) 
(Nanjo No. 137). In the Hien-p‘ing era of the Sung dynasty 
(A.D, 998 — 1000) the T‘ien-fai priest Tsun-shih (^^) (A.D. 
963 — 1032), mentioned above (§ 16, A, p. 321) in connection 
with the rites of repentance in worship of Amitabha and with 
those based on the Konkwomyokyo, began to practise the peni- 
tential rites with invocation of Avalokitesvara and the Triratna, 
in order to purify himself and others from the three kinds of 
sins (of body, mouth and mind). In Japan these rites, described 
by him in a work devoted to them, ■* were performed by the 
famous founder of the Rinzai branch of the Zen sect, Eisai 
(^®) (A.D. 1141 — 1215), often called by his posthume title 
Sfenkwo Kokushi ("f IS mi in Kenninji ( 


' Nanjo No. 1509; Daijiten, p. 1049, 3, s.v. jihi sembd. 

2 Daijiten, 1.1. 

^ Cf. Nanjo No. 1515, ceremonial rules with invocation of Kwanzeon. 
Nanjo No. 1485 (the K' ai-yuen-luh, A.D. 730), Ch. vi, p. 185a; a “Sutra on 
the magic formulae, used ^in order to take away sin by means of the 
Kwanzeon sange”, translated A.D. 490 (Ying-ming 8); the same work is -< 
mentioned in Nanjo No. 1483 (the Nei-fien-luti, about A.D. 664), Ch. iv, p. 33a. 

23 



354 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


founded by him in A.D. 1202 at Kyoto. Thenceforth the A'lvannon- 
sembo were used by the Zen sect, whereas the Hokke-sembo, 
treated in the next paragraph, were rites of the Tendai sect. 
The hymns of the former are pronounced in Td-in or “Sounds 
of T'ang’', those of the latter in Go-on or “Sounds of Wu” (the 
oldest dialect used in Japan, especially in Buddhism). The former 
begin with the isshin chorai ( — • jjj^) or “Act of worship 

by bowing down the head (before the Buddha) with a heart full 
of devotion”, the latter (the Hokke-sembo) commence with the 
isshin kyorai ( — ‘v\u>^;fla) reverence and worship 

(of the Triratna) with a heart full of devotion”, like the Amida- 
sembo of the Hongwanji branch of the Jodo Shinshu, described 
above (§ 16, C, p. 347). As to the opening act of the Kichijo- 
sembo, this hs the isshin busha ( — -AIa^^IpI) or “Invocation 
with a heart full of devotion”. ' 

The Rinzai priest Ben-en (^ 13j), whose posthume name is 

Shoichi Kokushi (§^ — ' ® ) (A.D. 1202 — 1280), also practised 

the Kwannon-sembO in Tofakuji jjjg ^), the beautiful 
sanctuary dedicated in A.D. 1255, of which temple he was the 
first abbot. 

Entsu Daiji ( or “Great Master of Perfect Pene- 

tration (Wisdom)” being a special name of Avalokitesvara, based 
upon the Sardhgama sutra ( # ts m «. Shuryogonkyo, Nanjo 
No. 446), the Kwannon-sembo are also called Entsu-sembb or 
Entsu-semma-ho ( [JJ ^ ^ 

In A.D. 1471 (Bummei 3, XII 26) we read of the Kwannon- 
sembo, practised by the Rinzai priests of Shokokuji. * 

' Daijiten, p. 1049, 3, s.v. sembo, where a mistake is made with regard 
to the opening rites, cf. the same work, p. 70, 2, s.v, isshin chorai and 
isshin kyorai. {Kwannon and Hokke sembo). 

* Daijiten, I.I.; Washio, p. 1037 sqq. s.v. Ben-en. 

® Daijiten, 1.1. and p. 1870, 3, sq. 

■* Zoka Shigusho, Ch. xxxix, Zoka Kokushitaikei, Vol. II, p. 362. 



Kwannon-sembo. Hokke-sembo in China. 


355 


. § 18, Hokke-sembo (j^ ^ or “Rites of Repentance of 

the Lotus”, also called Hokke-sammai-gyobo ( ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 
or “Rites {performed by means of) samadhi on the Lotus”, 
or Semboko {\^ ^ “Meetings for expounding the Rites of 
Repentance” (A.D. 848 — 1868). 

A. The Hokke-sembo in China. 


In China these penitential rites, practised by means of reading 
the Lotus sutra, date from the second half of the sixth century. 
The Saddharma-pimdarika sutra itself had been translated by 
Dharmaraksha I into Chinese between A D. 266 and 316 (Nanjo 
No. 138) and between A.D. 402 and 412 by KumarajTva (Nanjo 
No. 134, the Myoho-renge kyo, used in japan). The //o/rAre-sa/n/no/ 
kyS or Saddharma-samadhi-sutra (Nanjo No. 135) was translated 
in A.D. 427 or somewhat later by the Chinese priest Chi-yen 
J^) (Nanjo, Appendix II, No. 76), who had accompanied 
Fah-hien on his pilgrimage to India, and had obtained some 
Sanskrit texts in Cabul. 

In A.D. 563 (T‘ien-kia 4) the Emperor Wen Ti of the Ch'en 
dynasty held a Musha-daie or “Great Unlimited Meeting” (cf. 
above, Ch. VI, § 3) in the Ta-kih-tien Daigokuden) 

of his Palace, with three kinds of penitential rites: the Hodo- 
darani-ho based upon the Mahavaipulya- 

dharanl-sutra (see § 12, p. 289), the Hokke-sembo, and the 
Konkwomyo-sembo (see § 7, p. 268). * 

Between A.D. 589 (the beginning of the Sui dynasty) and 
A.D. 597 (the author’s death) the fdunder of the T‘ien-fai school, 
Chi-che ta-shi (Chisha daishi) (A.D. 531 — 597) wrote a work on 
these Hokke sembo, entitled Hokke sammai sengi ( ^ ^ ^ 
) or “Ceremonial rules {kalpa) for repentance by means 


‘ Fuh-tsu t‘ung-ki (Nanjo No. 1661), Ch. xxxvii. 



356 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of samadhi on the Lotus” (Nanjo No. 1510) (1 fasc-, 5 chapters). 
This is the work which caused the spread of this ceremony in 
China and Japan, the Tendai sect being its most powerful pro- 
pagandist. We have repeatedly seen above, that Chi-che ta-shi 
and his school were the principal authors and performers of the 
rites of repentance. Before him his teacher Hwui-sze (Eshi zenji, 
^ j|ip BlP ) ^he “Southern Peak” {Nan-yoh, Nangaku, 


^ i. e. Heng-shan in Hunan province), called Nan-yoh 

ta-shi or “Great Master of the Southern Peak”, the third patriarch 
of the Tendai school (A.D. 514 — 577), had written Nanjo Nos. 1542, 
1543 and 1547, on meditation and on the Lotus sutra (Ch. XIV) 
(the principal sutra of the Tendai sect) and had obtained rokkon 
shop or “purity of the six senses” by means of the Hodo sange 
or “ Vaipu/ya-repentance”, also called Hodd sammai, “Vaipulya- 
samadhi” (based upon Nanjo No. 421), which rites he practised 
for seven years. As stated above (§ 12, C, 1, e, p. 289), Kwan- 
ting (^T^) (A.D. 561 — 632) wrote the “Rules for the practice 
of Vaipulya-samadhi" (Nanjo No. 1573), orally explained by his 
teacher Chi-che ta-shi. Therefore it is no wonder that the Hokke- 
sembo have also been attributed by some writers to Hwui-sze, 
who is supposed to have transmitted them to his pupil Chi-i 
S.S)> Chi-che ta-shi. The latter, whose work on the 

Hokke sammai is also called Hokke sammai gyobo f ^ ^ — 
thus established the rules for celebrating the cere- 
monies of the rokkon sange, which he based upon the Lotus 
sutra, the Fugen kwangyo (Nanjo No. 394, see above, § 8, p. 269) 
and on other Mahayana sutras. 

Chan-jan (jj:^ ^) (Tannen, A.D. 711 — 782, Nanjo App. Ill 36, 
the ninth patriarch of the 7‘ien-fai school), called Yuen-fung 
Tsun-che ) {Enzu sonja) or “The Venerable One 

of Perfect Penetration”, and also known as King-k‘i ta-shi (^J 
^ Keikei Daishi) or “The Great Master of King-k‘i” 

(because he lived in K‘ing-k‘i, Tsin-ling (Shang-cheu-fu), Kiang-su 
province), wrote “Additional ceremonial rules {kalpa) for directing 



Hokke-do and sembo in Japan {9tb — 22th cent). 357 

one’s thoughts towards the Saddharma-pundarTka-samadhi rites” 
{Hokke-sammai-gydji-unsd-fujo-gi, 

(Nsnjo No. 1511). 

§ 18, B. Hokke-sembo practised in the Hokkedo or “Lotus 

chapels” of Japan on behalf of the dead {9th — J 2 th cent.). 

In Japan Jikaku Daishi ^ 3 ;^ ^fP), i. e. the Tendai priest 
Ennin ([Hl'fllt) (A.D. 794—864), the second of the so-called 
Nitto hakke (A it ) or “Eight Men who went to 

China” (of the Shingon sect and the mystic branch of the Tendai 
school), began to sing and recite the hymns of repentance in 
A.D. 847, after having returned from China. They were pronounced 
in Go-on (the “Sounds of Wu”) and he sang them in a plaintive 
voice, as well as the Shomyo bombai or “Indian chants”, mentioned 
above in connection with the Amida sembo (§ 16, C, p. 346). 
It is said that he practised the Hokke sembo even before his 
journey to China, and that Tencho 6 (A.D. 829) was the year 
when he first performed these rites in the Cryptomeria Cave 
'/[^) on Hieizan. Afterwards they were celebrated with great 
pomp in the Imperial Palace at Kyoto. 

The first Hokkedo (^^^) or “Saddharma pundatika 
chapel”, also called Hokke-sammai-do or Sammai-do, was that 
of the Eastern pagoda of Hieizan, built together with the Jogyo- 
sammai-do ('^ ^.^^) or “Chapel for constantly prac- 

tising samadhi”, mentioned above (§ 16, C, p'. 345) in connection 
with Jikaku Daishi's Amida cult. This took place in A.D. 848, 
and as the two chapels were connected by means of a corridor, 
the people called them the Ninai-do (^^), comparing 
them to the burdens carried on the shoulders by means of a pole. 
The principal image (hopzon) of the Hokkedo was that of Fugen 


‘ Daijii, III, p. 3571, 3. 



358 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Bosatsa (Samantabhadra), but there was also a Taho-to ( ^ ^ 
or “ Prabhutaratna pagoda”, an image of Taho Butsu, the 
Buddha Prabhutaratna, one of the Seven Buddhas, patron of 
the Lotus sutra, and a copy of this sutra itself. The Hokke- 
sembo of Hieizan took place at night (from midnight to three 
o’clock) and in the morning (asa-sembD). ' 

In A.D. 949 (Tenryaku 3, III 30) a Hokke-sammaidd was built 
from the timber of the Seiryoden in the compound of the Shingon 
sanctuary Daigoji (South-East of Kyoto, founded in A.D, 902 by 
the famous Shingon priest Shobo, i. e. Rigen Daishi, ^ ^ 

^ , A.D. 832 — 909), which is evidence of the fact that 

the Shingon sect also practised the samadhi of the Lotus. - 
In A.D. 976 (Tenen 4, VI 18), when a severe earthquake 
destroyed the walls of the Palace and many temples, killing a large 
number of people, the Hokkedo of the Maitreya shrine Sufukuji 
(^jjfg^, Shiga-dera in Shiga district, Omi province, erected 
by Tenchi Tenno in A.D. 668) and its guardian fell down into 
the valley, and also the bell-tower and the Mirokudo collapsed. 
In A.D. 983 (Tengen 6, III 22) the Court dedicated Enynji 


^) with the images of the Shichibufsa Yakiishi (the 
Seven Healing Buddhas) and, East of the pond, a Hokkedo. ^ 

In A.D. 985 (Eikwan 3, II 22) the Kwotaigo (the Empress 
Dowager) Masako (^•^) Naishinno erected Kivannon-in at 
the foot of Hieizan {Tendaizan). This sanctuary contained six 
chapels: 1. the kndo (the “Expounding Hall”, with gold-coloured 


’ Cf. Genji monogatiiri (about A.D. 1000), Ch. v ( mono- 

gatari (about A.D. 1100); Nomori no Kagami, H p. 507, quoted Daijiten, 
p. 1050, s.v. sembo. As to the asa-ambo yu-reiji cf. above, § 16, C, p. 345 
(Amida-sembo). 

^ Nihon kiryaku, Kbhen, Ch. ni, p. 859. According to the Genko Shakasho 
(Ch. XXV, p. 1070) the chapel was built in A.D. 952 by Suzaku Tenno, who 
had abdicated six years earlier and then, shortly before his death, became 
a monk. 

3 Fuso ryakki, Ch. xxvii, p. 743. 

“ L.I., p. 748. 



Hokke-do and sembo in Japan {9th — 12 th cent.). 359 

images of the Six Kwannons, to lead all living beings of the 
six gati, and of the Six Devas, to protect Buddha’s Law); 2. the 
Godaido (3l ^ ^ oi" “Hall of the Five Great Ones’’, with the 
images of the Godaison); 3. the Kwanjodo or “Baptismal Hall”; 
4. the Hokkedd, with a new image of Fugen Bosatsu, also called 
Ichijddo ( — ■ ^ ^ , “Hall of the Only Vehicle”, Ekayana, preached 
in the Lotus sutra) for reading the Hokkekyd in extenso and 
continually performing the Sammaiko, ^ ^ ; 5. the Amidadd 

with the Mida sanzon-, 6. the Sbingondo, with the Rydbu-man- 
daras. More than a hundred priests were invited, and a great 
many offerings made. ' 

In A.D. 988 (Eien 2, III 26), after his consort’s death, the 
Udaijin Fujiwar a no Tamemitsu dedicated the Gokendo (3l 
^) of Hojuji (^ "^ ^) in Kyoto, with a gold-cdloured image 
of Shaka, sixteen feet high, sitting cross-legged in the centre, 
and gold-coloured statues of Yakushi, Kwannon, Emmei {Fugen) 
and Nyoirin {Kwannon), seated in a row on both sides of the 
central figure; further a Hokke-sammai-do, with Fugen Bosatsu 
riding on a six-toothed elephant; and on the West side a JogyO- 
sammai-do, with Amida and his four attendants {shishoshu, 

i. e. the Shisho Bosatsu, ^ ^ the four Kongo 

{Vajra) bosatsu of the 37 son of the Kongd-kai, namely Kongo- 
kd Vajrahkusa, “Vajra-hook”), Kongd-saku (^, 

Vajrapasa, “Vajra-cord”), Kongo-sa Vajrasphota, “Vajra- 

chain”) and Kongo-rei (^, Vajraghanta, “Vajra-bell”). “ He 
invited more than a hundred monks and performed a splendid 
ceremony, thus fulfilling the numerous vows he had made in 
the course of six years. ® 

In A.D. 1058 (Tenki 6, II 23/ the two Hokkedd of Hojoji 
a Tendai shrine, erected in A.D. 1022 by Fujiwara 
no Michinaga), together with the kondO, kodd, Amidadd, Shakadd, 

‘ L.I., p. 752. 

2 Cf. Daijiten, p. 720, 3, s.v. Shisho Bosatsu; pp. 480 sqq. 

® Fusd ryakki, Ch. xxvn, p. 755. 



360 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Yakushidd, Godaidd, Jusaidd, Hakkakudd (Octagonal Chapel) and 
several other buildings of the same Kyoto temple were destroyed 
by a big fire. In A.D. 1079 (Joryaku 3, X 5) the dedicatory 
ceremony took place of the Eastern and Western pagodas, the 
kddd, Jusaidd and Hokkedd, which had been rebuilt. ' 

Other Hokke-sammai-dd were that of Hdshdji 
Tendai temple erected by Teishinko, ^ the Dajo-daijin 

Fujiwara no Tadahira (A.D. 880 — 949), before A.D. 929; in 
A.D. 1007 (Kwanko 4, XII 10) the Naidaijin Fujiwara no Kinsue 
(<^^) added a Sammai-do to this sanctuary); - and those of 
another Hdshdji ( ), Sonshoji, Enshuji and Jomyoji. The 

second Hdshdji and Sonshoji were Tendai shrines 

in Kyoto, erected by the Emperor Shirakawa (A.D. 1073 — 1085) 
in A.D. 1077 (Shoryaku 4) and in A.D. 1102 (KSwa 4, Vll 21). 
In A.D. 1077 (XII 18) he visited Hdshdji and dedicated its kddd 
or “Expounding Hall”, an Amida-dd, a Godaidd (of the Godaison) 
and a Hokkedd with a saptaratna Prabhutaratna pagoda (shippd 
Tahdtd). ^ 

In A.D. 1102 his third son, the priest Kakugyo HoshinnS 

(A.D. 1075 — 1104), of the famous Shingon 
temple Ninnaji, led the dedicatory ceremony of Sonshoji. In A.D. 
1105 (XII 19, the very date of the Butsumyd sange in the Palace) 
the Emperor added three chapels to the sanctuary (Sonshoji), 
namely the Amida-dd, the Jundei-dd (dedicated to Jundei Kwannon, 
i.e. CuntI Avalokitesvara), and the Hokkedd. In this way Shirakawa 
Tenno connected the Amida cult with the Shingon and Tendai 
doctrines. 

With regard to the Hokkedd of Enshuji, erected in A.D. 1070 

* 

' Ibid., Ch. XXIX, p. 8CX); Ch. xxx, p. 830. 

2 Hyakurensho, Ch. iv, Kokushi faikei Vol. xiv, p. 18; Nihon kiryaku, 
Kohen, Ch. xi, p, 1071. 

® Hyakurensho, Ch. v, p. 47 (Hdshdji)) Ch. V, p. 60 (Sonshoji)-, Faso 
ryakki, Ch. xxx, p. 827 (Hdshdji). 



Hokke-do and sembo in Japan {9th — 12 th cent). 361 

(XII 26) by the Emperor Go Sanjo, we may refer the reader to 
Ch. XI, § 8, C. 

Jomyoji was a Hokke-sammai-do, erected in A.D. 

1005 (Kwanko 2, X 19) by the Sadaijin Fujiwara no Michinaga 
(the celebrated and powerful statesman whose name we found 
also connected with the Amida cult) in his family grave- 
yard at Kobata in Yamashiro, and in imitation of the Hokke 
sammai-do of Yogawa on Hieizan he made Fugen Bosatsu {Saman- 
tabhadra) its honzon or principal saint. Before this image the 
Hokke sammai rites were performed on behalf of the souls of 
his ancestors. * In this way these rites of repentance became 
masses for the dead, and Hokkedo were erected at the 
mausolea of Emperors and Empresses and in the cemeteries of 
the principal families. In A.D. 1176 (Angen 2), Tor instance, 
Takakura Tenno had a Hokke-sammai-do built near Renge-o-in 
^ i called Sanjusangendo, ^ ^ ^ ^ , a chapel 

of the Thousand-armed Kwannon, built in A.D. 1164 by Taira 
no Kiyomori by order of the Emperor Go Shirakawa, and belonging 
to the Tendai shrine Myoho-in, itji ^ ^). Takakura Tennb 
erected this HokkedO because his mother had died, Kenshun 
Mon-in ^ (^), i-e. Taira no Shige-ko (%• '^ ■^) 

(A.D. 1142—1176), Go Shirakawa Tenno’s Consort. She was 
buried in this Hokke-sammai-do, and Takakura Tenno himself 
copied the Hokkekyo and performed the rites on behalf of her soul.^ 

Thus we see that the Hokke sembo were practised as masses 
for the dead, and that the mortuary chapels of the highest 
were called Hokkedo. ® 

’ Hyakurensho, Ch. iv, p. 17, Cf. Faso ryakki, Ch. xxvin, p. 766 (A.D. 
1007, XII 1 ; further a Tahoto {Prabhataratna pagoda) with images of Taho, 
Shaka, Fugen, Monju, Kwannon and Seishi. 

^ Hyakurensho, Ch. viii, Kokushi taikei XIV, p. 121; Daljii, III, p. 4101, 
3, s.v. Hokkedo. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1598, s.v. Hokkedo, According to Washio, p. 746, 1, s.v. 
(^^ in A.D. 1286 the Kairitsu priest of this name practised the- 

Hokke sembo on behalf of his father's soul. 



362 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


§ 18, C. Hokke-sembo performed at the Japanese Court 
from the twelfth century to the Meiji Restoration {1868), 
and connected with the Higan festival in the 
13 th and 14th centuries. 

In A.D. 1157 (Hogen 2) Go Shirakawa Tenno held a Sembd-kd 
('1^ “Meeting for expounding the Hokkekyd and per- 

forming the Hokke-sammai-sembo" in the Jijuden ('fH ^ 
of the Palace. ' 

In the Kagen era (A.D. 1303 — 1306) Go Nijo Tenno did the 
same in the Sento gosho (fllj or “Palace of the Cave 

of the Genii” (the retired Emperor being compared to the abode 
of immortal genii) in Kyoto. - 

In the Kemmu era (A.D. 1334 — 1336) Go Daigo Tenno cele- 
brated the Hokke sembo as a Court ceremony at the Higan-e 
'^), the “Festival of the Other Shore” {Nirvana) of 
Spring and Autumn. 

As to the connection of the Higan with the Hokke sembo (with 
regard to the Palace called Gosembo), we found this obtained 
already in A.D. 1289 (Shoo 2, IX 1), when the /« ( [^ ) (Kameyama 
Hoo, who had abdicated A.D. 1274) is said to have begun to 
celebrate the Sembo in the Shirakawa-dono (i.e. the Zenrinji 
Sento) “on account of the Higan”. * And in A.D. 1291 (Shoo 4, 
II 16) the Gosembo were performed in the Fugendo “during the 
Higan”. ^ In A.D. 1294 (Einin 2, 11 20 — 26) the Gosembo and the 
Shinyb-kodan ( ^ ^ ^ ) took place in the Kameyama-dono 
“on account of ihe <Higan”- they lasted seven days.’’ In the same 

' Daijiten, p. 1050, 2, s.v. Sembokn; cf. Hyakurensho, Ch. vii, p. 94: Go- 
sembo on V 14 in the Palace, and dedication of a Sapta-rafna pagoda, in 
the Naiden; Zoku-Shigusho, Ch. xii, p. 353 {gosembo, A.D. 1302, HI 15); 
p. 358 (A.D. 1302, X 5). 

^ Kokushi daijiten, p. 1569, s.v. Sento gosho. Daijiten, 1.1. 

^ Zoku Shigasho, Ch. viii (Fushimi Tenno), p. 248. 

* Ibid., Ch. IX, p. 261. 

® Ibid., Ch. X, p. 289. 



Hokke-sembo at the Court (J2th cent. — 1868). 363 

month (II 12 — 18) Gosembo \\aA been celebrated in the 
dono by the Ho-d, Higashi-Nijo-In and Yugi-Monin (i.e. Go 
Fukakusa Hoo, and the Consorts of Qo-Fukakusa and Go-Uda 
Tenno). ' The following year (A.D. 1295, Einin 3, II 11) the same 
Emperor (Ichi-in) held during five days the Gosembo in the 
Arisugawa-dono in the presence of the Court nobles and with 
Chugen Sojo (probably a Tcnrfm priest) as ^o-cfds/tf (leading priest), 
and at the same time another Hoo (In, Kameyama TennD) began 
to celebrate the Nyohd-gokyo (^R;^f^P|^) for three days in 
the Kameyama-dono. On the third day (the thirteenth) the same 
high-priest led the ceremony of the Nyohokyo jushu-kuyo (Sn 

) or “Ten kinds of offerings of the ‘Sutra 
(the Hokke-kyd) according to the Law’”, and the Shin-in (Go- 
Uda TennO) went there to listen; thereafter the In proceeded to 
the Hokkedo (of the Go-Saga-in) and offered the August Sutra 
(the Hokkekyd). The next month (the intercalary second month, 
II 1) the Ichi-in drove to the kodd (expounding hall) of the 
Rokujo-dono, and began to perform the Higan-gosembo, and three 
days later the In drove to the Zenrinji-dono for the same purpose. 
The former ceremony lasted seven days (kechigwan on the 8th), 
the latter, called Kameyama-dono Gosembo, \^s\ed on\y three days.'^ 

In A.D. 1368 (Oan 1, III 10) the Emperor Go Kwdgon of the 
Northern Court held a Sembd-kde in the Palace on behalf of the 
soul of his father, the Emperor Go Fushimi, who died in A.D. 
1336. From that time the Hokke sembd or Sembd-kde were cele- 
brated with great pomp at the Imperial Court, either in the Shi- 
shinden or the Seirydden, or in the Sentd gosho 
private palaces of the retired Emperors) or the monzeki jiin 
( ^ ^ Buddhist "'temples attached to the Court, 

in so far as Imperial Princes were their heads). They lasted three 
days, and were performed on the anniversaries of the death of 

' Ibid., p. 288. 

= L.I., Ch. X, p. 298. 



364 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


former Emperors or of the mother of the reigning monarch. The 
images of Shaka, Monju and Fugen (Sakyamuni, ManJusrT and 
Samantabhadra) were placed in the centre, an altar was erected, 
and incense and flowers were offered to them. Musical instruments 
(bells, drums, etc.) were set up in rows, the place of worship 
was adorned in a stately style, and priests and laymen were 
invited. Then the Emperor himself with the leading priest {doshi, 
the Ministers and the Nagon (the highest Court officials) 
made the pradaksina ceremony of circumambulating the images 
(gyddo shusd, ff ^ read the sutra (dokkyo, ^ 

and sung hymns in praise (of the Buddha and Bodhisattvas) 
(sambai, ^ P^). The leading priest was a Sanzenin monzeki 

(i.e. an Imperial Prince or a member of one 
of the five principal noble houses of Kyoto or of the other gentry, 
abbot of the Tendai sanctuary Sanzen-in near Ohara village in 
Atago district, Yamashiro province, one of the eleven monzeki 
of the Tendai sect; ' Dengyo Daishi and Jikaku Daishi were the 
two first abbots of this sanctuary, originally erected by Dengyo 
Daishi in the valley south of the Eastern Pagoda of Hieizan). 
Ohara was a famous centre of Amidism since the days of Eshin 
Sozu, who in A.D. 985 founded the Ojo-Gokuraku-in at Kwazan 
Tenno’s request, whereas in later times Ryonin Shonin (A.D. 
1072 — 1132) erected the Raiko-in. '^ The fact that the leading 
priest of the Hokke sembo ceremonies of the Court was neces- 
sarily an abbot of an important temple belonging to this complex 
points again to the close connection between the Hokke sembo 
and Amitabha’s cult. If for the moment there was no abbot of 
the Sanzen-in, the Tendai zasu (the general head of the Tendai 
sect residing in Enryakuji on Hieizan) was appointed to lead 
the Palace rites, or a priest of the Sanzenin fulfilled this task. 
The other officiating priests were only monks of the Three 

‘ Cf. Daijii, III, p. 4397, s.v. monzeki-, II, p. 1682, 3, s.v. Sanzen-in. 

* Cf. above, § 16, C, p. 346. 



Hokke sembo at the Court (J2th cent. — 1868). 


365 


Pagodas of Hieizan {Summon Santo, lU ^ and of the 
two monasteries of Ohara, but most of them were Ohara priests. 
To be appointed leader of these Hokke sembo by special Imperial 
Ordinance was the highest honour, since those who obtained it 
were sure to become Daisozu immediately. ' 

From olden times the Lotus sutra was used to “extinguish 
sins” {metsuzai, fp), as we learn from the fact that Shomu 
Tenno in A.D. 741 (Tempyo 13) established the Hokke metsuzai 
no tera, i.e. the Kokabun-niji or Provincial Nunneries, where on 
the eighth day of every month ten nuns expounded the Hokke- 
kyo] the Hokkeji or Lotus Temple at Nara was made the So- 
kokubun-niji or “General State nunnery” 

The second great aim of the readers of the Lotus sutra, derived 
from the former, was the meifukii jjig) or “"Happiness in 
the Dark World” of their deceased ancestors, in the first place, 
of course, of the former Emperors, if the ceremonies were per- 
formed by Imperial command. Thus we read that in the seventh 
month (the special month of the Festival of the Dead) A.D. 748 
(TempyO 20) the same Emperor (Shomu Tenno) held a Hokke- 
sembu-e (^^-^ioP^) or “Meeting for reading a thousand 
copies of the Lotus sutra" on behalf of the soul of the Daigyd 
Joo (^ _J2, i-O- of his aunt, the Empress Gensho, who 

died three months previously (IV 21). A thousand monks assembled 
and read the thousand copies of the holy text, made by (order 
of) the Emperor. ® This was the first instance of such a congre- 
gation. As we saw above, to blot out crimes and cause the 
felicity of the dead were the chief aims of the Hokke sembo. 

In A.D. 848 the Shingon priest Dosho (^ 1 ^ ) (A.D. 798 — 875), 

together with the Sanron priest Jitsubin ( ^ ) (A.D. 785 — 853) 

' Daijii, III, p. 4101, 1, s.v. Hokke sembo-, Kokushi daijUen, p. 1572, 1, 
s.v. sembo. 

^ Shoku Nihongi, Ch. XIV, pp. 233 sq. 

® Genkb Shakusho, Ch. xxii, p. 1021; Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvii, p. 276. 



366 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and the Tendai priest Kwojo (A.D. 779 — 858) proceeded 

to the Palace, where they expounded the Lotus sutra and prayed 
for the felicity of the soul of the late Emperor Junna, who died 
in A.D. 840 (V 8). This ceremony took place on the 15th of the 
seventh month, the principal day of the Festival of the Dead 
{Urabon). ’ 

More than eight centuries later, in A.D. 1664, the Tendai priest 
Senson (A.D. 1639 — 1708) assisted the Imperial Prince 

in peidorming the Hokke sembo in the Palace. The Prince 
had been requested to lead this ceremony by the Emperor Go 
Mi-no-o, who had abdicated in A.D. 1629. ’ 

Thus the seventeenth century still witnessed the celebration 
of these ceremonies at the Imperial Court, and even in the eigh- 
teenth century they continued their ancient tradition; but the 
Meiji Restoration of 1868 put an end to them. 


§ 18, D. The vernal and autumnal Higan-e or 

“Festivals of the Other Shore" {Nirvana) 

{from A.D. 806 to the present day). 

In the 13hi and 14th centuries the Higan-e, connected (as 
stated above) with the Hokke sembo, were held during seven 
days in the spring and autumn. They are not mentioned in the 
sutras and abhidharmas, in India and China, but in Japan they 
are said to have originated from Shotoku Taishi's autographic 
inscription on the tablet above the Western gate of Shitennoji in 
Settsu province, erected A.D. 593; “Place of Sakyamuni Tathagata’s 
turning of the Wheel of the Law; this is the Centre of the 
Eastern Gate of Paradise”. ® 

' Washio, p. 878, 2, s.v. Dosho- cf. Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xvi, p. 529. 

^ Washio, p. 696, 2, s.v. Senson. 



Higan-e and Hokke-sembo Q3ih and 14th cent.). 367 

Shen-tao (f 681), the famous Chinese propagandist of Amitabha’s 
worship (repeatedly mentioned above), in his Commentary on 
the Kwangyo (Nanjo No. 198) with regard to the Contemplation 
of the Setting Sun (to behold Amitabha’s Dharmakaya) points 
out that it is only in the spring and autumn that the sun is seen 
to rise exactly in the East and to set exactly in the West, and 
that Amitabha’s Paradise lies where the sun sets, exactly to the 
West, beyond a hundred thousand koti of worlds (ksetras). For 
these reasons from olden times many believers used to assemble 
in the spring and autumn at the Western gate of Shitennoji and 
to worship the setting sun, praying for rebirth in Amida’s Paradise. 
This is said to be the origin of the Higan-e or “Nirvana-meetings”. ' 
As to Shotoku Taishi’s cult of Amida, we remarked above (§ 16, B, 
p. 322) that according to Matsumoto the Tenjukoku Mandara 
must represent Maitreya’s, not Amitabha’s heaven, since 
the period was too early for the worship of the latter Buddha 
in Korea and Japan. If this were right, the inscription above 
the gate of TennOji would date from later times, when Amida’s 
cult had spread in japan. The term Goka-raku 
“Extreme Felicity”) is only used to designate SukhdvatT, Ami- 
tabha’s Heaven, so that the inscription cannot refer to another 
paradise. 

Shen-tao’s words are evidence of the fact, that the vernal 
and autumnal equinoxes were especially the proper times 
for the contemplation of the setting sun in order to see (with 
the mental eye) the invisible Dharmakaya or *Dharma-body of 
Amitabha. From ancient times down to the present these days 
are, in fact, the central (the fourth) days of the two Higan fes- 
tivals. They last seven days, and, the equinoxes are called the 
chujitsu ( 0) or “central days”, and also haru and aki no 

higan “vernal and autumnal higan”. Seven and three are the 
ordinary numbers of the days fixed for ceremonies, both being 


' Daijiten, p. 1459, 1, s.v. higan. 



368 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


very important sacred numbers. The Higan festival, evidently 
originated by the worshippers of Amida (the nembutsu-mon no 
hito), was afterwards adopted by all the other sects. Although 
it is a peculiarly Japanese festival, one passage of the sutras is 
referred to with regard to it, namely the words of GautamT, i.e. 
MahaprajapatT, Sakyamuni’s aunt, in the HoonkyO, i.e. the Daihoben- 
Butsu-hoonkyo, or “Sutra on the 

Buddha’s rewarding the favours (of his parents) by means of 
great good means (mahopayay’ (Nanjo No. 431, Ch. V) (trans- 
lated by an unknown author of the Eastern Han dynasty, A.D, 
25 — 220). There she says to all the nuns and virtuous women 
that they must take refuge in Ananda. "If they wish to obtain 
peace and felicity, they must always observe the eight fasting 
regulations -on the 8th of the second and the eighth 
months, clad in pure garments and praying with great ardour 
(displaying great energy, daishojin, virya) six times, 

thrice in the day-time and thrice at night. Then 
Ananda by means of his great divine power shall hear their 
prayers, protect and assist them and fulfill their wishes”. ' This 
is, however, the only passage of the sacred scripts, where these 
religious rites of the second and eighth months are mentioned, 
and the days (the eighth) do not agree with the chujitsu of the 
higan. Therefore the Amidists of Japan must have originated this 
festival in connection with Shen-tao’s words. Nichiren ( 0 
(A.D. 1222 — 1282), the famous founder of the Lotus sect {Hokke- 
shd), ^ and K akun yo ( i e. the Jodo Shinshu priest Shusho 

(1270 — 1351),^ refer to three texts, the Tensho kenki 

(^ jE|t iE)> the Higan-kudoku-joju-kyo (^* ^ ^ 
]^j^), “Sutra on the fulfillment of the virtuous action of the 

' Daijiten, l.I. 

^ In his Higansho, ^ {Rokugwai gosho, XV), quoted Daijii, 
III, p. 3901, 1, s.v. Higan-e. 

^ In his Gaijasho, ^ quoted ibid. 



The origin of the Higan festival. 


369 


Other Shore” and the Sokushutsu-shoji-tohigan-kyo (SSaii 
^ ^Ij ^ ^ ^)> “Sutra on speedily escaping birth and death 
and reaching the Other Shore (Nirvana)”, but these three writings, 
attributed to Nagarjuna, are counterfeits, written to prove the 
ancient Indian origin of the Higan rites. As a matter of fact, 
neither India nor China have known them, and a Chinese author 
of the Sung dynasty states, that “it is a Japanese custom to 
celebrate the Higan festival in the second and eighth months”. ’ 

It is curious to read how the origin of the Higan festival is 
explained in those spurious books. Between the worlds of Desire 
and Form (the eleven Kamalokas, , yokkai, and the eighteen 

Brahmalokas, ^ ^ , shikikai, of ancient Indian cosmology) there 
is a heaven called "Palace of the Central Light” (Chuyo-in, fJi 
mU)- It is situated next to the Tusita Heaven (the fourth of 
the Devalokas, beginning from the lowest worlds). In its centre 
is a terrace, called Ryojodai mmm) or “Terrace of the Place 
of Manifestation of Divine Power”. On that terrace is a tree, the 
flowers of which open in the second month and fall after seven 
days and seven nights, whereas its fruits ripen within seven days 
of the eighth month. At the time of the Higan festival Mahesvara 
(Siva), Brahma and Indra assemble there and during those seven 
days write down the names of the virtuous and wicked men and 
women ; eight times they compare their registers, thrice they 
revise them, and finally they put their seals on them, judging 
the virtuous and evil deeds of all living beings. Therefore especially 
in those days virtuous actions are necessary -for all those who 
wish to leave “this shore” (the world of birth and death) and 
to reach “the other shore” {Nirvana, or, as a nearer aim, Paradise). ^ 

The term Higan or “The Other Shore” has been borrowed 
from ancient Indian texts, where Nirvana is compared to the other 
shore of the sea or stream of the klesas or passions (translated 

' DaikyU-Zenji-roka, quoted 1.1. 

^ Daijiten, p. 1209, 2, s.v. Chuyo-in-, Daijii, 111, p. 3901, 1, s.v. Higan-e. 

24 



370 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


by “vexations”, bonno), to be crossed by allliving beings. 

The Bodhisattvas, having reached the highest wisdom, the muso 
no chie ( ^ ^). the highest of the six Paramitas , 

rokudo), by means of this wisdom (Prajha) reach the other shore, 
borne thither by the ship of abstract contemplation (^eny■o, jjip 
dhyana). ' The “Sutta on the cause and effect of the past and 
present” {Kwako-genzai-ingwa-kyo, ^ 0 1^) ' 

and the Ekottaragama-sutra {Zoichi-agon-kyo, 1^ ^ ^ 

call Nirvana “the other shore”, to be reached by all who study, 
i.e. who strive for the highest wisdom. The term Paramita is 
translated by tdhigan, ^tj ^ ^ , “reaching the other shore” (of 
the great sea of the passions), as we learn from KumarajTva’s 
translation of Nagarjuna’s Mahaprajhaparamita-sastra (Daichidoron^ 
tS K »). where para is said to be “the other shore”, and 
mita “to reach”; “if one can go straight on, without receding, 
and accomplish the Buddha road, this is called ‘reaching the 
other shore’”. ^ 

For these reasons from olden times the Vajra-prajhaparamitd- 
sutra {Kongo-hannya-harami-kyo, ^ ^ ^ M ^ 

translated by KumarajTva A.D. 402 — 412) (Nan jo No. 10), i.e. 
the Kongo- hannyakyo, often mentioned above in the preceding 
chapters, was read by means of the tendoku system in the Buddhist 
temples of Japan during the seven days of the Shunshu niki 
(^^ - ^) or “Vernal and Autumnal seasons”, i.e. of the 
Higan festival. It is mentioned in the Genji monogatari (written 
before A.D. 992, when Murasaki Shikibu died), the Kagerd nikki 

' Fah-yun, in his dictionary of Sanskrit names translated into 

Chinese, the Fan-yih ming-i-tsih, (NanjB No. 16401 

(A.D. 1151), Ch. XII, No. 49, p. 56. 

* Nanjo No. 666, translated by Gunabhadra, A.D. 435—453; Ch. in. 

® Nanjo No. 543, translated by Dharmanandi, A.D. 384 — 385; Ch. XLVii, 
p. 2046, 1. 

“ Nanjo No. 1169, translated by KumarajTva, A.D. 402 — 405, Ch. xii, p. 69a, N 



The origin of the Higan festival. 


371 


^ 0 pE) diary of A.D. 954 — 974) and the Shui-Ojo-den 
(35 biographies, written by Miyoshi Tameyasu 

( — ^ ^ J^)) who lived A.D. 1049 — 1139). According to the 
Genji monogatari the festival began on the 15th of the month, 
and the Kagerd nikki speaks of the 1 9th as the day of entering 
the Higan. The Nihon koki (A.D. 841) is the first work where 
this vernal and autumnal festival is mentioned, although it is not 
yet called by its later name. When the Emperor Kwammu was 
ill (from A.D. 804 XII 25 to 806 111 17, when he died), he tried 
“to soothe the angry spirit of Sudo Tenno, ^ ^ ^ t-C- 

his younger brother Sawara Shinno, his former heir apparent, 
who had died in A.D. 785 on the way to Awaji, his place of 
exile, because he had refused all drink and food. In A.D. 702 
(VI 10) the posthumous title of Sudo Tenno was conferred upon 
him, and messengers were sent to his tomb to ask forgiveness 
for his banishment (which had taken place in A.D. 785 because 
he had ordered the murder of the Chunagon Fujiwara no Tane- 
tsugu). The Emperor took these measures, because he was 
afraid that the illness of the new Crownprince, Sawara’s successor, 
might have been caused by this angry spirit. The Yakushi-kekwa, 
practised during seven days in Kwammu Tenno’s Palace in A.D. 
796 (X 27), also point to the Emperor’s repentance, as well 
as the fact that the following year (V 19) strange events, con- 
sidered to be evil omens, caused him to send two monks to 
Awaji in order to perform tendoku (probably of t|ie Kongd-hannya- 
kyo, which was read on the previous day by means of the ten- 
doku system in the Palace and in that of 'the Heir Apparent) 
and kekwa at Sudo Tenno’s grave. 

How much greater was the Emperor’s fear, when in A.D. 804 
(XII 25) he himself fell ill and his disease proved to be of a 
fatal nature ! We shall see below, when dealing with that period, 
how many measures hp took to appease the angry spirits of 
Inoue no Naishinnd (A.D. 717 — 775; Shomu Tenno’s daughter* 



372 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


and Consort of Prince Shirakabe (Konin Tenno) and her son, 
worshipped in Reianji) and of Sudo TennS. In A.D. 806 (III 17), 
on the last day of his life, the monks of the kokubunji of all 
provinces were ordered to read the Kongo hannya-kyo (Nanjo 
No. 10) twice a year, in the middle of spring and 
autumn (in the second and eighth months), during seven 
special days, on behalf of Sudo Tenno’s soul.' This was 
the origin of the Higan festival. 

In the tenth century 21 dangisho or “preaching 

places” used to be erected in Sakamoto (^1^ ) on Hieizan on 

the occasion of the Higan festival, and eloquent priests were 
invited to preach the Law to a great multitude of monks and 
laymen, who flocked together from far and near. Finally, these 
congregations at the request of the Hieizan priests were mentioned 
in the calendars, for the sake of convenience, and because they 
had become regular yearly ceremonies of the clergy and the 
laity; the peasants knew the exact time of sowing by these 
dates. ^ 

In the thirteenth century Hdjo-e ( or “Festivals 

(meetings) for letting loose living beings” were combined with 
the Higan festivals, and it was forbidden to kill animals during 
those days. " 

In later times it was the custom on the Higan days to visit 
Buddhist temples and the graves of ancestors and in Yedo 
the “Six Amidas” {Roku Amida) were visited. Moreover, in the 
Tendai, Shingon ■ and Zen sanctuaries segaki kayo 


' Nihon koki, Ch. xiii, p. 62. The term higan is used in the expression 
“making good fields of the other share” ( ), with regard 

to the Tendai sect, Shoku Nihon koki, Ch. iv, p. 210. 

2 Genji monogatari, Kagerd nikki, and Shui-djo-den, mentioned above 
and quoted in the Daijii, III, p. 3900, 3, s.v. Higan-e. 

^ Azuma kagami, , or “Mirror of the Eastern Provinces”, written 

shortly after A.D. 1266 (annals of A.D. 1180—1266), Ch. vin. 



The Higan festival. The Nyoho-kyo ceremony. 


373 


-gfc or “offerings to the hungry ghosts {pretas)” were made 
on behalf of believers. And in the Jodo sect the middle day of 
Higan is^ as stated above, devoted to the “meditation on the 
(setting) sun”. ' 


§ 18, E. The Nyoho-kyo ceremony for copying 

and offering the Lotus Sutra {12th and 13th centuries). 

The Nyoho-kyo was an important Tendai ceremony, closely 
connected with the Hokke-sembo. In A.D. 833 (Tencho 10) Ennin 
(Jikaku Daishi), often mentioned with regard to the penitential 
rites of the Lotus and of Amitabha, then forty years old, felt 
very ill. Thinking his death was near, he built a grass-hut at 
Yogawa on the sacred Tendai mountain Hieizan, where he began 
to practise the Rokkon sange or “rites of repentance for puri- 
fication of the six senses”. In a dream an angel brought him a 
sweet fruit from the Toriten or Trayastrimsat heaven, which 
cured his disease. Then he made ink from stones and pencils 
from plants and during the pauses of his meditation (the shishu- 
sammai or four kinds of samadhi, mentioned above) he copied 
the Lotus sutra {Myoho-renge-kyo, translated by KumarajTva A.D. 
402 — 412, Nanjo No. 134). In this way he worked for three years, 
and after having finished it he put it in a small pagoda, which 
he placed in a so-called Nyohodo or “Chapel according to the 
Law”. ^ This term nyohO, “according to the ■'Law”, is used in 
the sutras with regard to the virtuous action pf copying sufras. 
From that time the term Nyohokyo designated “copying the Lotus 
sutra according to the Law”, and later it became a great cere- 
mony of the Tendai sect, practised with fixed rules in a special 
place of worship by many persons. The great ShintC gods of 
thirty famous sanctuaries (Ise, Iwashimizu, Kamo, Matsuno-o, 

■o 

' Daijii, 1.1. 

^ Genko Shakusho, Ch. in, Biography of Ennin, p. 680. 



374 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Hirano, Inari, Oharano, Ishigami, Hirose, Tatsuta, Sutniyoshi, 
Itsukushima, Akayama, Mikanii, Kibitsu, Atsuta, Suwa, Hirota, etc.) 
were made the tutelary deities of thirty days of copying the Lotus 
sutra; they are the Nyohokyo-shugo no sanjU banjin 

or “Thirty tutelary gods of the Nyohokyo" . ’ 

With regard to the celebration of the Nyohokyo ceremony at 
the Imperial Court, the Masu-kagami (J^ written A.D, 
1340 — 1350) states that in A.D. 1263 (Kocho 3, V 1) the Hon~in 
(Go-Saga Tenno, who abdicated in A.D. 1246 and lived until 
A.D. 1272) performed the Nyohokyo in the Kameyama-dono, 
which was a very auspicious ceremony. The Emperor Go Shira- 
kawa (A.D, 1156 — 1158; died A.D. 1192) had already practised 
such a rite, after having shaven his head (i. e. after having be- 
come a monk in A.D. 1158; in reality he continued reigning 
until his death). He thought it very important, probably because 
he had made a solemn vow with regard to this ceremony. Kwazan- 
in Chunagon (Fujiwara no Morotsugu) (Naidaijin) was his only 
attendant, but he had invited many learned priests of both the 
public and secret cults. In former times JotO-Monin (Fujiwara no 
Aki-ko, Michinaga’s daughter, A.D. 988 — 1074, consort of Ichijd 
Tenno (986 — 1011), mother of Go-Ichijb and Go-Shujaku Tenno) 
seems also to have performed such a ceremony, according to the 
author of the Masukagami, who adds that he has heard, that 
Omiya-in (Fujiwara no Yoshi-ko, A.D. 1225 — 1292, consort of 
Go-Saga Tenno, mother of Go-Fukakusa and Kameyama Tenno) 
had practised it in the same way. Before offering the sutra the 
“ten kinifs of offerings" (jushu-kuyo, were made. 

These were based upon the Hoshi-bon, ^ l^llj pri j tenth chapter 
of the Lotus sutra (Sect. IV), and consist of the following ten 
offerings. 1. Flowers {ke, ^). 2. Incense (ko, ^). 3. Ornamental 

necklaces and bracelets for the idols {yoraku, 3^ ^)- ^ — 6. Three 

' Daijiten, p. 1354, 3, s.v. Nyohokyo. Daijii, III, p. 3732, 3, s.v. Nyohokyo. 
Eigaku yoki, =2 , “An essential history of Hieizan”, Ch. . 



The Nyohd-kyo ceremony (12th and 13th cent.). 375 

special kinds of incense (makko, zuko, shoko, ^ 

!e». “rubbed, smeared and burned incense"), 7. Silken canopies 
and flags (zogai doban, ^ ijlg l|^). 8. Garments (efuku, 
). 9. Musical instruments (gigaku, 'j^ ^). 10. The act 

of joining the palms in prayer (gassho, ^ ). In olden times 
Kumarajrva, the celebrated translator of the Lotus sutra (Nanjo 
No. 137) (A.D. 402 — 412), offered its text (to the Buddha) by 
means of these ten kinds of offering, and afterwards those who 
had copied it and celebrated the Nyohokyo ceremony, which was 
also an offering of the sOtra, made the same jushu-kuyo and 
called it the jushu-kuyo no go kyo. ' 

In A.D. 1263 (V I), after having finished these ten offerings, 
the Hon-in (Go Saga Tenno) went in person to the Jokongo-in 
(‘(P ^ l^l] 1^) chapel of the Kameyama-dono, built by 

Go Saga Tenno), accompanied by the Kwampakii (Fujiwara no 
Yoshizane) and the ministers, forming a remarkable procession 
(evidently in order to offer the sutra to the Buddha). - The Zoka- 
Shigushd calls it the Nyohokyo-kwosange, the “Extensive Rite of 
Repentance of the Sutra (offered) according to the Law” (V 1), 
and states that on the eighth of the same month the same Em- 
peror began to perform the “Correct Ceremony of Repentance” 
(Shosange, jE >|^ ) in the Kameyama-dono, whereas the 
offering of flowers etc. of the Nyohokyo was commenced by him 
in the Saga-dono (i.e. the same palace) on the 22nd of that month; 
on that occasion three Japanese songs (waka) yi^ere recited. 

The procession to the Jokongo-in, described by the Masu- 
kagami, took place on the third of the sixth’ month ; whereupon 
the "August Sutra” was offered in that chapel. Four days later 
the same Emperor proceeded to the new Shinto shrines of Hiyoshi 
and Kumano and to the Iwashimizu shrine, in order to make 

' Daijii, III, p. 3733, 1, s.y. nyohd-kyo. Masu-kagami, Ch. ix, Kitano no 
yuki, p. 1093. * 

* Masu-kagami, Ch. viii, Yama no momgi-ba, pp. 1083 sq. 



376 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the same offering of the sutra. Thus these rites lasted from the 
first day of the fifth month to the seventh day of the sixth. ‘ 
In A.D. 1280 (V 17) the Saga~dono no Nyohd-gokyo-sange, led 
by the Kwampaku by order of the Hon-in, are again mentioned; 
on the 10th of the next month the ceremony of "erecting the 
august pencil” Mi-fude-tate) took place, and on the 

20th that of the “ten kinds of offerings”; two days later a copy 
of the Lotus sutra was offered to the Shinto god of Iwashimizu 
and another to the shrine of Yogawa. ^ 

As to the Kameyama or Saga-dono, the Hokkedo of that palace, 
situated north of Tenryuji at Saga village, Katono district, Yama- 
shiro province, is the mausoleum of the Emperors Go-Saga and 
Kameyama, who died in A.D. 1272 and 1305. 

In A.D. 1188 (Bunji 4, Vill) Genku (vjg A.D. 1133—1212), 
i.e. HOnen Shonin, the celebrated founder of the Jodo sect (1175), 
in Go-Shirakawa Ho-b’s palace {sento, tOlS) of Kawa-higashi 
no Oshikoji, for the first time led a Nyohokyo ceremony, the 
rules of which he had fixed in imitation of that of the Lotus 
sStra, and which was devoted to the copying and offering of 
the Jodo sambukyo, i.e. the three main sutras of the Amitabha 
cult {Mida samba), Nanjb Nos. 27, 198 and 200 (the long and 
short SakhdvatT-vyuba and the Kwangyo). He performed it with 
the Hoo, Myo-on-in Nyudo (Fujiwara no Moronaga), his own 
priests and 14 Miidera priests of great virtue. In A.D. 1204 
(Oenkyu 1, III), on the thirteenth anniversary of Go-Shirakawa’s 
death, Genku celebrated this rite for seven days in Renge-d-in 
(the Sanjusangendo) in Kyoto. A special kind of precious paper 
was used and during a thousand days nembutsu raisan or reading 
of the three sutras took placfe before the ceremony. Then they 
adorned the place of worship and took preparative measures for 

’ Zoku Shigusho, Ch. i, Kameyama, p. 25. 

* L.I., Ch. V, Go-Uda, p. 141. 

® Kokushi daijiten, p. 676, 3. 

* Daijii, 111, p. 3732, 3, s.v. Nyohokyo) Daijiten, p. 1354, 3, s.v. Nyohokyo. 



The Nyohd-kyd ceremony. Butsumyd-e. 


377 


seven days, whereafter the copying, “erecting the pencil”, and 
offering were done. The sutras were copied either in several 
days (sensha, “gradual copying”) or by many persons 

in one day and one night {tonsha, ^ , or “sudden copying”). 

From olden times a biwa-hoshi used to be invited, whose task 
it was to sing the Heike monogatari, because once a blind man, 
who wished to take part of the ceremony on Hieizan but could 
not on account of his blindness, during the pauses of copying 
had diverted the tired men by singing the Heike monogatari, 
and playing on a biwa. ’ 

Thus we see Amitabha’s worshippers again adopting the Tendai 
ceremonies to their cult; at the same time the Nyohokyo is fresh 
evidence of the close connection between the Lotus sutra and 
the rites of repentance, especially of the Tendai sect. It is inte- 
resting to notice how the great Shinto gods were used as tutelary 
deities of the different days of the ceremony, and how some of 
them were even honoured by the offering of the holy text itself. 


§ 19. Butsumyo-e “Congregations for invoking 

the names of the Buddhas”, also called Butsumyd songe 
^(^*1^), “Repentance by means of the Buddha names”, based 
upon two different Butsurnyo-kyo, Mahayanistic “Sutras on the 
Buddha names” {A.D. 830—1467). 

A. The Butsumyokyo or “Sutras on the Buddha names”. 
(Nan jo Nos. 404 and 405 — 4 07). 

In the first half of the sixth century of our era (A.D. 508—535) 
Bodhiruci I translated Nanjo No. 404, entitled Buddhabhasita- 
buddhanama-sutra (Bussetsu Butsumyokyo, 

work of 12 chapters, in which the names of 11093 Buddhas, 
Bodhisattvas and Pratyakabuddhas are invoked by means of the 


Dai/ii, 1.1., p. 3733, 1. 



378 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


preceding term namah namu). The Buddha explains to 

a big crowd of beings how virtuous men and women, who wish 
to obliterate all their sins, must ask to obtain this end. He gives 
them the names of the Buddhas of the past, present and future, 
and says: “If virtuous men and women receive and keep and 
read the names of the Buddhas, in the present life they shall 
have rest and be far from all difficulties, and they shall blot out 
all their sins. They shall obtain anuttara samyaksambodhi (per- 
fect wisdom) in the future. If virtuous men and women wish to 
“extinguish” their sins, they must purify themselves by bathing, 
put on new and clean garments, kneel down (choki, 
join their palms and say: “Namu Toho Ashiiku Biitsu” (“I adore 
Akshobhya Buddha of the Eastern quarter”) (followed by the 
invocation of eleven other Buddhas of the East); 1 take refuge 
{kimyd, ^ '^) in all these numberless Buddhas of the Eastern 
quarter”. Then follow the names of 12 Buddhas of the South, 
12 of the West, 10 of the North, 10 of the South-East, 10 of 
the South-west, 12 of the North-west, 10 of the North-east, 12 
of the nadir and 8 of the zenith, in all 108 names (the original 
number of the klesas (bonno) and therefore the number of the 
prayers to Amitabha (nembutsu), of dhSranis, mudras, rosary 
beads, etc. ' 

Then follow the names of future Buddhas, namely the Bodhi- 
sattvas Samantabhadra, Maitreya, Avalokitesvara, Mahasthana- 
prapta, Akasagarbha, Vimalakirtti, Akshayamati, etc., ten in number. 
After ten other names of Buddhas a long list of further invocations 
is given. In chapter 6 (p. 2936) twenty Bodhisattvas are mentioned; 
Samantabhadra, ManjusrT, Vimalakirtti, Kshitigarbha, Akasagarbha, 
Avalokitesvara, Mahasthanaprapta, GandhahastT, Mahagandhahasti, 
Bheshajyaraja and Bheshajyamudgata, Vajragarbha, Maitreya, Dhara- 
nTsvara-raja, Akshayamati, Suryagarbha, etc., and numberless Bodhi- 
sattvas of the ten quarters are invoked, followed by more than a 


' Cf. Daijiten, p. 82. 



The Sutras on the Buddha names. 


379 


hundred Pratyekabuddhas and innumerable Buddhas, and Bodhi- 
sattvas of the four quarters (Ch. 7, p. 300c, Ch. 12, p. 327). 

This text was the base of the Bufsumyo-e, practised from olden 
times in China, Korea and Japan. There is, however, another 
text, consisting of 30 chapters; at the end of each chapter titles 
of sutras and names of Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas and Arhats 
(with many mistakes) have been added. Moreover, reverence is 
paid to the Triratna, and the sangemon or “text of repentance” 
(cf. above, § 9, p. 276) as well as a part of a spurious sutra 
(the Hotatsu-Bosatsu-mon-hdo-shamon-kyd, ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ 

m PI abbreviated into Hotatsukyo) have been inserted. 
In the “Catalogue of Buddhist works of the K'ai-yen era” (A.D. 
713—742) (^ NanjO No. 1485, Ch. XVIII), which 

appeared in A.D. 730, this Butsumydkyd is mentioned for the 
first time as consisting of 16 chapters. It was widely spread in 
this form, although it was full of mistakes; in A.D. 799 it was 
even attached to the Catalogue of the Tripitaka. Evidently made 
in China in the middle of the T‘ang dynasty (eighth century) for 
the Butsumyd sange), this Butsumydkyd of 16 chapters was also 
used in Japan at the Butsumyd-e from A.D. 846 (Showa 13) to 
A.D. 918 (Engi 18). There is also a text of 18 chapters, not 
very different from the other text, but without the Hotatsukyo. ^ 

Another Butsumydkyd, called also Sankd sanzen butsumyd kyd 

) or “Sutra of the three thousand Buddha 
names of the three kalpas (past, present and future)”, in A.D. 918 
was made the text of the Butsumyd-e by tlie Tendai priest 
Genkan (;^§g) (A.D. 861 — 926). But the leaders of the cere- 
mony did not change the rites and considered the recital of the 
“13000 Buddhas” of the Butsumydkyd of 16 chapters to be the 

' Daijii III, p. 4031, 1, s.v. Butsumyokyd. Cf. Fuji! in his Bakkyd jirin 
(p. 744), who states that to the sutra of 30 chapters Nanjo No. 706, the 

has been added, that the sutra of 

16 chapters is a different work of the same kind, and that both were used* 
at the Butsumyd-e. 



380 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


right, ancient way of celebrating this festival. ' The title of the 
text introduced by Genkan for constant use is the collective 
name of the three sutras NanjO No. 405 — 407, translated in the 
Liang dynasty (A.D. 502—557) by an unknown author. Each of 
them contains the names of a thousand Buddhas, belonging to 
the past (No. 405), the present (No. 406) and the future kalpas 
(No. 407). The first sutra is preceded by a short text, entitled 
Sanko sanzen Butsu engi and trans- 

lated between A.D. 424 and 442 by Kalayasas of the earlier Sung 
dynasty. Each of the three sutras consists of one chapter. 

In the beginning of the first text virtuous men and women 
who hear the names of all these Buddhas of the three worlds, 
read, copy and explain them, paint their images, offer to them 
incense, flowers and music, praise their blessing power and with 
a heart full of devotion worship them, are said to be reborn in 
Buddha lands and in the end become Buddhas. If they prostrate 
themselves and pray to all the Buddhas of the three worlds and 
ten quarters to stop the three evil roads (of fire, blood and 
swords, hell, animals and pretas), to give wealth to the country 
and rest to the people, and to turn all living beings from heterodox 
views to the correct road, and if they pray that all living beings 
of the six roads may be reborn in the land of Amitayus, they 
shall cause them actually to be reborn there and to obtain the 
same beauty, wisdom, discrimination, fruits, stateliness and im- 
measurableness of life as Amitabha himself. 

Here, as at the end of the last sutra, Amitdbha's name and 
heaven are specialty mentioned. After 400 Buddha names, all 
invoked by means of the word namah (namu), repentance 
(sange) for all sins is preached by the Buddha to his followers. 
Then 500 Buddhas are invoked, reverence is paid to the Triratna, 

‘ Ainosho, an encyclopaedia written in A.D. 1446 by the 

Buddhist priest Gyoyo, ; Ch. ix, No. 43, p. 44a, s.v. Buisumyd 

sange. 



The Butsumyo-e {A.D. 830 — 1467). 


381 


and a special text of repentance is given with regard to the 
beings in hell, animals, pretas and asuras. Finally a hundred 
other Buddhas are invoked, the last of the thousand Buddhas of 
the former kalpa. 

In the second sutra repentance is preached ten times, each 
time after the invocation of a hundred Buddhas. As to the last 
sutra, this gives, after a short introduction, an uninterrupted list 
of a thousand invocations, concluding with the same promise of 
the highest rewards expressed in the opening words of the 
first sutra. 

With regard to Amitabha, mentioned in the beginning and at 
the end of the collective text, we may refer to the fact that from 
olden times in some Buddhist temples in japan the Butsumyo-e 
was celebrated by hanging up three pictures, each representing a 
thousand Buddhas, and bowing before them three thousand times, 
repeating only Amitabha’s invocation: “Namu Amida Butsu’\ ' 

§ 19, B. The festival of the Buddha names in Japan 
{A.D. 830-1467). 

In A.D. 774 (Hoki 5, XII 15 — 17) the Emperor Konin performed 
the Hokwo kekwa or “Vaipulya Repentance" 

during three days in the Imperial Palace. As stated above (§ 17, 
p. 350), this rite is said to be the origin of the Butsumyo sange, 
since it was a penitential service, held towards the end of the 
year to purify the Court and the country from sins, committed 
in the course of the year. The sutra, on which it was based, 
was from olden times used in the Butsumyo sange rites of Japan. 
This is the Daitsu-hokwo-kyo ^ ^ nientioned in 

the ancient Chinese catalogues of Buddhist works (and by Tao- 
stien in Nanjo No. 1483) among the dubious or spurious sutras 
of the Sui dynasty (A.D. 581—618), so that it was not included 

' Daijiten, p. 1565, 3, s.v. Butsumyo-e. 



382 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


in the great Canon. Its full title is Daitsu hokwo sange metsuzai 
shogon jobutsu kyo 

j^) or “ Mahavaipulya sutra on obtaining vyaha (‘ornament’) 
and Buddhaship by obliterating crimes by means of repen- 
tance”. ' 

In A.D. 823 (Konin 14, XII 23) the same ceremony, called 
Daitsu hokwo no ho ^ M ^ celebrated during 

one night in the Seiryoden of the Palace by three great priests, 
invited by the Emperor Junna. They were the Daisozu Choe 
whose name is not given by Washio, the Shosozu 
Gonsb 3 Sanron priest (A.D. 758—827, Washio p. 387, 2), 

and, last not least, the Daihoshi Kukai, the Shingon priest Kobo 
Daishi ! “ 

In A.D. 830 (Tenchd 7, XU 8) the Emperor Junna (A,D. 823 
IV 16 — 833) was the first to invite ten famous Buddhist priests 
and to cause them to perform the Butsumyo-sanrai or “Rite of 
Repentance by means of the (Sutra on the) Buddha names” in 
the Palace during three days and nights. ® On this occasion the 
Shingon priest DoshO (^ 1 ^) (A.D. 798 — 875), the founder of 
Horinji in Yamashiro, was appointed leader of the 

ceremony (doshi). * It was he who in A.D. 848, together with the 
Sanron priest Jitsubin and the Tendai priest Kwojo, expounded 
the Lotus sutra in the Palace for the felicity of the deceased 
Junna Tenno’s soul (see above, § 18, C, p. 365). 

In A.D. 835 (Showa 2, XII 20) the Emperor Nimmyo (A.D. 
833 — 850) “began to pay reverence to the Butsumyokyo (/|^ ^ 

4 

* Daijii, III, p. 3192, 3, s.v. Daitsa-hokwo-kyo', III, p. 4030, 2, s.v. Buisa- 

myo-e. Cf. Kuji kongen, ^ ^ (A.D. 1422), s.v. 

Nihon bangaku zensho, Vol. xxn, p. 109. 

® Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xiv, p. 464 (Nihon koki, Ch. xxxi). 

3 Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xiv, p. 464; Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiii, 
p. 1047. 

* Washio, p. 878, 1, s.v. Doshd. 



The Butsumyo-sange {9th cent.). 


383 


in the Seiryoden of the Palace for three nights". ‘ 

In A.D. 838 (Showa 5, XII 15) the same Emperor performed 
the Butsumyd sange in the Seiryoden, for three days and three 
nights. The risshi Joan ^), a Hosso priest, at whose request 
the ceremony took place, ’ the daihoshi Gwan-an ( also 

a Hosso priest, the Sanron priest Jitsubin (mentioned 

above), Gwanjo ( ) (whose sect we do not know) and the 

Shingon priest Dosho (mentioned above) alternately lead the 
service. “This was the beginning of the Butsumyd sange, per- 
formed in the Palace”. On the 18th, when the ceremony had 
come to an end, the five leading priests received presents and 
each of them obtained one follower who embraced religious life. ® 
Washio states that this festival was called Mi-Butsamyd-e (f® 
and that it became a regular ceremorty celebrated 
yearly with great pomp. ^ 

In the Genko Shakusho the remark is made, that the Batsumyd- 
sanrai of A.D. 830 was a performance (shu, f^), whereas 
the Batsumyd-sen (called sange in the Shoku Nihon kdki) of 
A.D. 838 was a rite (shiki, i e. a regular ceremony. ® 

Yet we do not read of it in the following years, from A.D. 839 
to 845. 

In A.D. 846 (X 27) the Emperor Nimmyo issued an ordinance, 
commanding all provinces to practise the Butsumyd sange for 
three days. Seven bushels (^, koku) of cereals were to be 
offered to the Triratna, six to the priests; the offerings were to 
be made according to custom, and the regular taxes used to 
defray the expenses. Moreover, it was made a> constant ceremony 

kdshiki). ® For this reason the Ainosho (referred to above) 

0 

‘ ‘Shoku Nihon kdki, Ch. iv, p. 212; Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. XV, p. 485. 

* Genko Shakusho, Ch. xxiii, p. 1048. 

® Shoku Nihon kdki, Ch. vn, p. 250. 

* Washio, p. 656, 1, s.v. Joan. 

® Genko Shakusho, Ch, XXiii, p. 1047 sq. 

* Shoku Nihon kdki, Ch, xvi, p, 374. 



384 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


calls this the beginning of the Butsumyo festival; at the same 
time it states that in the Palace as well as in the provinces the 
Batsumyokyo of 16 chapters was used at these rites.* 

Although the Emperor Nimmyo established this rule, no Butsu- 
myo sange is mentioned in the following years (A.D. 847 — 849). 
After his death (A.D. 850, III 21) his successor, Montoku Tenno 
(A.D. 850—858), held a Raibutsu sange in the 

first year of his reign (A.D. 850, XII 15); the priests were “respect- 
fully invited” (M ) (to the Palace) to perform this ceremony. ^ 
In the two following years it is not mentioned, but in A.D. 854 
(Seiko 1, XII 18) and in 855 (XII 18) it was again celebrated.** 

We do not read of it in 856, and in 857 (XII 18) instead of 
performing this rite the Emperor invited 50 priests to the Palace, 
where they ^ead the Daihannyakyb for seven days. * 

After Montoku Tenno’s death (A.D. 858, VllI 27) his successor, 
Seiwa Tennb (A.D. 858 — 876), instituted the annual Butsumyd 
sange ceremony, to be practised yearly from XII 19 to XII 21 
in the Naiden of the Palace by three or four famous priests. 
This took place in the first year of his reign (A.D. 858, Ten-an 2, 
XII 19). ’ The next year (XII 18) 60 priests were invited to the 
Palace of the Prince Imperial, to perform tendoku of the Dai- 
hannyakyo for three days and to practise the Butsumyo sange. ** 
In A.D. 860 and 861 no mention is made of this festival, but in 
862 (XII 20) it is stated that it was celebrated in the Naiden, 
“as always” ; ^ in 864 the same fact is reported, but that year it 
began on the ^3rd. ® At the same time we always read of the 
sending of Imperial messengers to the mausolea, where apparently 

’ Ainosho, Ch. xxxiv. 

^ Nihon Montoku Tenno jitsuroku, Ch. 11, p. 470. 

3 Ibid., Ch. VI, p. 519; Ch. vii, p. 529. 

“ Ibid., Ch. IX, p. 564. 

® Nihon sandai jitsuroku, Ch. ii, p. 16 {Kokushi taikei, Vol. iv). 

® Ibid., Ch. in, p. 49. 

^ Ibid., Ch. VI, p. 114. 

« Ibid., Ch. IX, p. 167. 



The Butsumyo-sange {Qth cent.). 


385 


for the same purpose gohei were offered to the Imperial ancestors 
towards the end of the year, thus causing felicity during the next 
year by entering it free from sins and favoured by the divine 
powers. For the same reason in the beginning of the year the 
Go-saie or Mi-saie ^), “August Purification-Festival”, 

was held in the Palace (I 8 — 14 in the Daigokuden, with a vege- 
tarian entertainment of the monks and expounding of the Saishoo- 
kyo (Suvarna-prabhasottamaraja-sutra, Nanjo No. 126, cf. above. 
Chapter 1, § 8, p. 15), on behalf of the welfare of the Court 

and the Nation, an annual festival since A.D. 802 (Enryaku 21), ‘ 

celebrated from I 8 — 14 since A.D. 813 (Konin 4). - As we saw 
above (§ 15, p. 317), from the Engi era (A.D. 901 — 923) until 
about A.D. 1068 Kichijo kckwa were practised in all provinces 
during the same seven days (1 8 — 14), in order -to purify the 
country from sin and cause its peace and felicity for the whole year. 

In the Bukkyo daljii^ the year A.D. 853 (Ninju 3) is given as 
the time when the dates of the Butsiimyd sange of the Palace 
and of the provinces were changed from XU 15 — 17 into XII 19—21. 
We did not find this fact mentioned in the annals, but in A.D. 850 
the opening date was still XII 15, and in 854 it had become 
XII 18; in 858 it became Xll 10, but the following year it was 

XII 18, in 862 XII 20, and in 864 as late as Xll 23. Then follow 

865 Xll 19, 866 XII 20, 867 XII 19. On this day (in 867) a dis- 
ciple of the late Risshi Joan (the Hosso priest at whose request 
in Showa 5 (A.D. 838) the Butsumyo sange were celebrated in 
the Seiryoden by him and four other priests),* namely the Dento 
hoshi (# m a eiB ) Kengo ( ^ ^)> * a Hpsso priest of Todaiji, 
addressed a written petition to the Emperor Seiwa with regard 

* ' Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. xiii, p. 386. 

^ Ibid., Ch. XIV, p. 416. 

^ Daijii III, p. 4030, 3, s.v. Butsamyd-e. 

■* Washio, p. 283, 2, s.v. Kengo, states that in A.D. 868 this Hosso priest 
requested the Emperor to’ divide the images, made by him, between ttig 
Palace and the provinces. 


25 



386 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


to this festival. He stated that in the ShSwa period the perfor- 
mance of the Butsumyo sange no ho had been commenced at 
Joan’s request, and that it was practised throughout the empire. 
He (Kengo) had thrown away his priestly robe and almsbowl 
and changed them for vermilion (i.e. painting). He had painted 
eight groups of 13000 Buddhist figures (Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, 
Pratyekabuddhas and Arhats), 18 feet high and 14 feet broad. 
He requested one group to be presented to the shrine of Hachi- 
man Bosatsu (of Usa) in Buzen province, and the seven others 
to the provinces of the Hokurikudo. The Dajokwan disposed of 
them according to request. ' 

This is clear evidence of the fact, that the “13000 Buddhas” 
of the Butsumyokyd of 16 (or 30) chapters were invoked, not the 
3000 of Nanjo No. 405 — 407. In the provinces the government 
offices were the places of worship, and seven priests of famous 
virtue were requested to perform the rites. As to the Bntsitmyo-e 
of the Palace, its principal image {honzon) was that of Sho Kwannon 
(IE a#), ie. Arya Avalokitesvara, the august honzon of the 
Jijuden ( ^), the tutelary deity of the Emperor. This 

picture was hung between two groups of 13000 figures, and in 
a side room screens representing hell {Jigoku-hen, no bydbu) 
were set up. There were three leading priests {doshi) of the 
highest ranks, and three followers {shidai). ^ Thence the honzon 
of the Jijuden was brought to the place of worship and hung 
(the Kuji kongen says kakete) within the august curtain, between 
the southern tablet's (^). Further along the southern and northern 
walls low tables (;j^^) were arranged, upon which stood the 
images and pagoda-shaped ornaments. The offerings made to 
the Buddhas were incense and -^flowers. The screens representing 
infernal scenes were placed in an adjoining room, and in front 
of the magnificent reception room braziers stood with matsu 

' Nihon sandai jitsuroku, Ch. xiv, p. 263. 

^ Daijiiy III, p. 4031, 1, s.v. Butsumyo-e. 



The Butsumyo-sange {Qth cent.). 


387 


twigs. This was accomplished by the ladies, the court nobles 
not entering the adjoining room. The three leading priests were 
on service alternately: the first during the beginning of the night, 
the second during the middle part and the third during the last 
period (the night lasting from 9 P.M. to 3 A.M.). ' They recited 
the Buddha names, but from the Engi era this recital was accom- 
panied by officials playing on Japanese harps (koto). The author 
of the Kuji kongen (A.D. 1422), Ichijo no Kaneyoshi ( — ■ 

^ who gives this description, adds that this ceremony 

was performed for the first time in the twelfth month of Hoki 5 
(A.D. 774), and that in the Showa era (A.D. 834 — 848) during 
the three days of this yearly festival in all provinces it was for- 
bidden to kill living beings. It lasted from XII 19 — 21, but there 
were also precedents of its having been celebrated, only for one 
night (e.g. in A.D. 823, as seen above). - 
In A.D. 868 — 875 (XII 19) the beginning of the Butsiimyo sange 
is regularly stated in the Nihon sandai jitsuroku. As in 859, in 
872 60 priests performed tendoku of the Daihannyakyo during 
the same three days, but this time the ceremony took place in 
the Daigokuden; the Biitsumyd sange were practised, as usual, 
in the Naiden. ^ In A.D. 876 (Jokwan 18), however, it was 
omitted, because XI 29 of that year the Emperor Seiwa had 
abdicated in favour of his son (Yozei Tenno) and a religious 
ceremony had been observed; afterwards such rites caused the 
Butsumyo sange to be limited to one night. * 

The Sandai jitsuroku, which runs to A.D. >887 VIII, gives us 

‘ According to the Daijii, 1.1., the first of the three nights was divided 
into two sessions {za), that of the shoya and goya (first and last part of 
the night, from the hour of the hog (9—11) to that of the ox (1 — 3), whereas 
the second and third night were divided into three parts (shoya, hanya and 
goya no za), from the hour of the hog (9 — 11) to that of the tiger (3 — 5). 

“ Kuji kongen, twelfth month, 19th day, Nihon bungaka zeas/zo, Vol. XXII, 
pp. 108 sq. 

^ Sandai Jitsuroku, Ch. xxii, p. 367. o 

“ Ibid., Ch. XXIX, p. 439; Daijii, III, p. 4030, 3, s.v. Butsumyo-e. 



388 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the dates and places of the Butsumyd sange as follows. In 
A.D. 877 — 880 the ceremony began Xll 21 (not XII 19) and 
lasted three days; it took place in the Naiden (877), the Kokiden 
(878), the Seirydden (879) and the Joneiden ('^ 

^^)( 880 ). ' 

In 881 it commenced XII 19, in the Seiryoden, and in 882 it 
began XII 20, in the Ryokiden (^ ^); in 883 its first day 

was XII 22, and it took place in the Naiden. ^ The three following 
years, after Yozei Tenno’s abdication, his successor Koko Tenno 
was more careful in observing the correct dates (XII 19 — 21) 
and in choosing a fixed place of worship (the Jijuden)-,'' but he 
died in A.D. 887, and as his successor, Uda Teiino, ascended 
the throne in the same year (XI 17), no Butsumyo sange is recorded 
for that year 'in the Nihon kiryaku. 

In A.D. 910 (Engi 10) the Tendai priest Sb-o (:^i0 ]^) (A.D. 
831 — 918), who in A.D. 856 had performed the Biiisiimyo sange 
during three nights (XII 1 — 3), in order to obliterate Iiis own 
sins and those of others, repeated this rite and thenceforward 
performed it annually until his death (A.D. 918). The same year 
(A.D. 910) he made images of Amida Biitsu nxxAVnt Six Kwannons 
in order to lead to salvation the living beings of the six gati-, 
and he had protected the country by making images of the Go- 
daison ( ^ ) (the five Vidyarajas, cf. above, Ch. V, Ninno-e, 

§ 2, L, p. 144) and of Hannya Bosatsu {Prajnd Bodhisattvd) 
and by copying the Sutras of the three thousand Buddhas 
(Nanjo Nos. 405—407). This is evidence of the fact that he used 
those sutras instead of that of the 16 chapters (with the so-called 
13000 Buddhas). It is also remarkable that for this private rite 
of repentance he preferred the' dates XII 1 — 3.^ 

‘ Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. xxxn, p. 474; Ch. xxxiv, p. 504; Ch. xxxvi, p. 532; 
Ch. xxxviii, p. 555. 

2 Ibid., Ch. XL, p. 574; Ch. XLii, p. 596; Ch. XLiv, p. 613. 

3 Ibid., Ch. XLVi, p. 650; Ch. XLViii, p. 675; Ch. XLiX, p. 701. 

* Washio, p. 742 sqq., s.v. Sod. 



The Butsumyo-sange {10th cent). 


389 


The Engishiki enumerates the „ornaments of the Mi-Butsumyo, 
among which we find “the shrine of the tutelary Buddha of the 
Emperor”, and a maki-e lacquer table, both placed in the Naiden, 
the offerings being paper flowers, incense, two bronze flower 
vases and one incense-brazier; further two groups (^) of 
the 13000 Buddha images and one copy of the Sutra 
of the Buddha names of 16 chapters, tables for the 
offerings and the text, seats for the priests, 16 flags, a pulpit, 
a big drum, a desk, four khakkharas and a nyo-i (sceptre). The 
author adds that this ceremony was celebrated during three nights, 
in the 12ih month, beginning with the 19 th), and that it took 
place in the Imperial Palace. ' 

In A.D. 918 (Engi 18) the Tendai priest Genkan pro- 

posed to the Emperor Daigo (A.D. 897 — 930) to abbreviate the 
list of the 13000 names of the Sutra of 16 chapters, used in the 
Butsumyd sange, to that of the 3000 Buddhas of NanjD Nos. 405-407. 
This proposal was accepted, but, as stated above, the leading 
priests of the ceremony did not change the rites and considered 
the recital of the 13000 names to be the correct ancient way of 
observing them. ^ 

The Honcho seki (2}S ^ jH; ^E) (A.D. 935 — 1153) mentions 
the Butsumyd sange in A.D. 938 (Tenkei 1, Xll 19 — 21); 941 
(Tenkei 4, Xll 20; only one night); 993 (Shoryaku 4, XII 19); 
1087 (Kwanji 1, XII 22, all the court nobles went to the Palace 
on account of the Mi-Bufsumyo); 1103 (Kowa 5, XII 21 ; on that 
night the Mi-Butsumyo (also called O-Butsumyd) began ; XII 23, 
Mi-Butsumyo, end of the Hokke-e); 1144,(Tenyo 1, Xll 21).® 
In A.D. 1147 (Kyuan 3, XII 19) a description of the festival is 
given. It began with mono-imi ^abstinence from certain articles 
of* food and from anything unclean) of the Emperor, and sanro 
(^^, passing the night or a certain number of days in a 

* Engishiki, Ch. xiii, Ko^ushi taikei Vol. xm, pp. 491 sq. 

® Ainosho, Ch. ix, No. 43, p. AAa, s.v. Butsumyd sange. 

® Honcho seki {Kokushi taikei Vol. VllI), pp. 38, 91, 204, 330, 388, 500. 



390 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


shrine for a special prayer) of the Court nobles and the attendants 
of the Emperor. The kurodo Taira no Tokitada (only 17 years 
old, for he was born in 1130), sho-i (second lieutenant) of the 
Sahyo-e (Left Guards Proper), performed the ceremony of receiving 
the monks, who arrived in the evening at the Palace gate. He 
wore the formal court dress and addressed the priests as usual. 
At the hour of the hog (nine o’clock) the toshoryo (librarian) 
struck the bell, and the high officials entered the reception room 
and took their seats. All the court nobles prayed in due order. 


Then the priests ascended the platform and performed the four 
rites (hoyo) and the sutra reading as customary. Thereupon the 
huge (the Court nobles) withdrew into the Palace, and the sake 

cups went round (ikkon, nikon, one and two cups). ’ The second 

part of the night was like the first. The court nobles of the 5th 
rank sat near the braziers (mentioned above in the passage of 
the Kuji kongen). In the last part of the night the recital took 
place of the khakkhara hj'mn of praise, the shakiijo no shDmon, 
^ ^ , called shakujo or kujo ( ;^ ^ ) shakujo, which 
the performers sing, shaking their magic staffs with metal rings 
each time they have finished one of the nine strophes of the 
hymn. The four first lines are found in the 14th chapter of the 
Avatamsaka sutra {Kegonkyd, Nanjo No. 87), the other strophes 
are the work of some ancient priest. The kujo shakujo is the 
last of the four essential parts of Buddhist ceremonies, the shika 

hoyo, to wit; 1. bombai, ^ , the “Indian 

song”, an opening hymn in honour of the Buddha; 2. sange, 
^ , scattering howers as an offering to the Buddha while 
singing the hymn beginning with the words: “I wish to be in 
the place of worship”, 3. bon-on, 

“Indian sounds”, an offering of pure sounds to the Buddha while 


' Cf. the passage of the Kuji kongen on this festival : the Kayanashi no 
k'vampai, drinking wine from a place of that name in 

Settsu province. 



Description of the Butsumyo-sange in A.D. 1147. 391 

singing the gatha beginning with the words : “Most beautiful flowers 
whatever tliere are on all sides”, PJf ^ ^ ^ sha- 

kujo, shaking the staffs with metal rings while singing the 

hymn beginning with the words; “With my hands I grasp the 
khakkhara” . As these four rites are the most important parts of 
the ceremonies they are called “the four essentials of the rites” 
{hoyo, m or “the four ways of using the rites” (hoyo, 

As to the bombai and bon-on, these songs were made in China 
in the Wei dynasty (A.D. 220—265) by Ch'en Tsze-wang (j^ 
and Ts'ao Tsze-kien ( while walking in the 

Lu mountains, in imitation of the sound of the rivulets of the 
valleys. The famous Japanese Tendai priest Ennin (Jikaku Daishi) 
(A.D. 794—864), mentioned above in connection with the shbmyo 
bombai and the Amida kelava, § 16, C, pp. 344 sqqa., as well as 
the Hokke sembo, § 18, B, p. 357, introduced these chants into 
Japan, where they became very popular among the priests of the 
mystic branch of the Tendai sect. Although the terms bombai 
and bon-on are practically identical, the former has the meaning 
of opening hymn of ceremonies, sung after the burning of incense, 
whereas the bon-on are sung after the scattering of flowers. ' 

During the singing of this khakkhara hymn a kurddo of the 
fifth rank and another of the sixth took forth and as usual pre- 
sented the silk (mentioned also in the Kuji kongen). Then the 
gyoko (ff i-e. the handing of incense to the priests (as 

an offering to the Buddha), took place, and the kurddo Taira no 
Tokitada (the leading) official presented kwashQ> a kind 

of incense-burners, to the priests. Thereupon the court nobles 
and lower officials performed the myo-etsu (the same 

as myd-taimen, a cecemony of mutual introduction). 

That night, however, the officials of the kurodo-dokoro (which 
had charge of secret reports *and other state matters) were drunk 

' Daijiten, p. 687, 3, s.v. shika hdyd \ p. 802,2, s.v. Aruyo sAcAruyo; p. 615, 1, 
s.v. sange\ p. 1640, 1, s.v. bombai, and p. 1634, 1, s.v. fton-on. Cf. the present. 
Writer’s treatise on the Arhats in China and Japan, Ch. V. 



392 Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 

and did not come to the myo-etsu, which the annalist says was 
very queer. ' 

In A.D. 1149 (Kyuan 5, Xll 16, an uncommon date) in the 
evening two regular festivals began; the offering ceremony to 
Kwannon of the thirty altars, and the Mi-Butsumyo of the Nyo-in 
the Empress-Dowager). The Ichi-in, i.e. Toba Tennd, 
ordered the former performance to be commenced and, personally 
beginning the practice of the gosembo {Hokke sembo), invited 
six priests to lead the Bufsumyo ceremony, which was attended 
by all the court nobles. The six priests were the Gon-Daisozu 
NinsS, the Hogen Kenjin and Shun-en (a Tendai priest, zasu of 
Enryakuji), the Ajari ]ug\x (also a Tendai priest, who in A.D. 1162 
became zasu of Enryakuji), and the priests Monjitsu and Jitsu-e, 
all probably belonging to the Tendai sect. The annalist states 
that this invitation of six priests to lead the ceremony was a 
constant rule. ^ 

In the first part of the Zoku-Shigusho ^ (A.D. 

1259—1382) from time to time the M-(or 0-) Buisumyo are 
mentioned, e.g. in A.D. 1282 (Koan 5, XII 23) when a Haru no 
miya ( ) no Mi-Butsumyo was also performed in the palace 

of the Prince Imperial (Togu),^ and in 1283 (Xll 21).'* In A.D. 
1352 (XII 19) it is stated that there was no safa or Government 
order with regard to the Buisumyo, because in that year Go 
Kogon Tenno, of the Northern Court, had ascended the throne 
and the “August Ceremony of the three Altars” {Sandan no Mi- 
shuho, (usually pronounced Mi-shiho, a term 

for a great number of Shingon ceremonies) had taken place. “ 
From Horikawa Tenno’s time (A.D. 1086 — 1107) it had been the 

* Honcho seki, sub dato A.D. 1147 {Kyuan 3), 12th month, 19 th day, p. 645. 

* Honcho seki, p. 782. 

® Zoku-Shigusho, Vol. I, Ch. Vi, Zoku Kokushi taikei, I, p. 157. 

* Ibid., Ch. VI, p. 170. 

, ® Daijiten, p. 1675, I, s.v. Mishiho. 

® Zoku-Shigusho, Vol. I, Ch. xxiv, p. 681. 



393 


Mi-ButsumyQ in the I2ih — 15 th cent. A.D. 

custom to limit the duration of the service to one night in the 
first year of the reign of a new Emperor; in this case, as in 
A D. 876, when Yozei Tenno ascended the throne, these rites 
were considered superfluous because another important ceremony 
had already been celebrated. 

We do not read about the Mi-Butsumyo in the second part 
of the Zoka-Shigusho (A.D. 1382—1629), but sometimes (as in 
A.D. 1408, Oei 15, XU 14—20) the Semboko (t^ ^ ^) or 
Go-sembo {Hokke-sembo) or (as in A.D. 1471, Bummei 3, XII 26) 
the Kvjannon-sembo are mentioned towards the end of the year. 
Yet the Festival of the Buddha names, which was limited to 
one night instead of three since the Kemmu era (A.D. 1334—1336), 
when under the Emperor Go Daigo the short chuko ( or 

Restoration of the Imperial Power took place, w^as continued 
until the civil war of the Onin era (A.D. 1467—1468), which 
lasted from 1467 to 1477. In that disastrous period, like most 
ancient ceremonies, it was permanently abolished. ' 


§ 20. Recapitulation regarding the Rites of Repentance. 

If we recapitulate the principal matters dealt with in the pre- 
ceding paragraphs, the following facts may be briefly stated. 


A. The terms kekwa and sange (§ 1). 

The term kekwa is anterior to sange and sembo. In China the 
word sange, a combination of transcription and translation, began 
to prevail in the beginning of the fifth century A.D. Uke kekwa 
it means repentance, not coafessfon, which is designated 
by the word hotsuro. The proper meaning of san ^ksama) is 
“patience”, an abbreviation of the term ksamayati, asking pa 
tience, i.e. forgiveness” ; it was combined with ke (Chin, hwm), he 


' Daijii, HI, p- 4030, 3, s.v. Bufsumyo-e. 



394 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Sinico-Japanese word for repentance. In the Japanese annals the 
term sange is not found earlier than A.D. 838 {Butsumyo sange), 

§ 20, B. The sutras. (§§ 2 — II). 

Among the principal sutras quoted with regard to the power 
of repentance, preached by the Buddha to those who wish to 
“extinguish” their sins (compared to fire), only Nanjo No. 739 
(on the saving power of shame and remorse) (§ 10) and the 
Dirghdgama sutra (Nanjo No. 545, King Ajatasatru’s repentance 
and salvation (§ I), as welt as the Ekottaragama sutra (Nanjo 
No. 543 (§ 1) belonged to the Hinayana-, all the other sutras 
were texts of the Mahdyana. As to the rites of repentance, 
these were only mentioned in the Mahayanistic texts, which 
expanded the simple and general ideas of Hinayana. The Upo~ 
satha and Pravarana rites, based upon the Vinaya of the HJna- 
yana, may alone be called penitential services of Hmayanistic 
origin, but even they are rather rites of confession then real 
ceremonies of repentance. 

Even in the oldest of the translations of Mahayana texts on 
this subject, spoken by the Buddha at Sariputra’s request (Nanjo 
No. 1106, transl. 148 — 170, § 2), the rites are fixed as at three 
times in the night and three times in the day-time, 
when worship is to be offered to all the Buddhas of the 
ten quarters. The offering of ten thousand lamps (the 
night being the -principal time of most penitential ceremonies, 
and ten thousands lights being a typical offering connected with 
the idea of repentance and driving away the demons of darkness, 
originally a magical act; cf. the Mi-akashi and Mandd-e, Ch. VII) 
is mentioned in the later translation of the same text (Nanjo 
No. 1103, the Bodhisattva-pitaka-sUtra, transl. A.D. 506 — 520, 
§ 3). A vegetable diet, new, pure garments, a correct attitude, 
and offerings of flowers, fruits and leaves are the usual rules of 
the rites of repentance. 



The sufras on repentance. 


395 


In the third translation of the same text (Nanjo No. 1090, transl. 
about A.D. 590, § 4) ManjusrT is connected with the rites; 
he asks the Buddha to explain to him the way of performing 
sange and hotsuro (penitence and confession). In another text 
this Bodhisattva himself expounds the so-called Monju kekwa 
and five other ceremonies, all found in the Tendai goke, except 
that of making offerings to the Buddhas (Nanjo No. 1091, transl. 
A.D. 266 — 317 by Dharmaraksha I, who also translated the Mai- 
treya satra, Nanjo No. 55). It is the gotai kekwa or “Repentance 
of the five parts of the body”, the two knees, two arms and head, 
which touch the ground when lying down in worship of the 
Buddhas of the ten quarters. Maitreya is said by the Buddha 
to have reached perfect Enlightenment by means of the virtuous 
power obtained by performing these rites six times, i. e. three 
times daily and three times every night (Nanjo No. 55, § 5). 
Lamps are also the principal offering in the ManjusrT rites (§6). 

The fifth century saw the appearance on the scene of the two 
main texts of repentance of the T'ien-Vai sect, the Suvarna- 
prabhdsa sutra {Konkwomyokyo, Nanjo No. 127, translated in 
A.D. 414 — 423 by Dharmaraksha II, § 7) and the Kwan-Fugen- 
gyo or Fugen-kwangyo, the Sutra on the rites of meditation 
on the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Nanjo No. 394, transl. 
in A.D. 424 — 441 by Dharmamitra, § 8. In the Konkwomyokyo 
we read of the Golden Drum, sounding the Hymn of 
Repentance in the dream of the Bodhisattva Shinso (Rucira- 
ketu). The sound of this drum is able to remove all the sorrows 
and fears of living beings, to save them from birth and death 
and to “cause them to reach the shore of great wisdom.” Even 
those tortured in hell, when hearing the Golden Drum, shall 
forthwith pay reverence to the Buddhas and be blessed by their 
power. 

A much later translation of the same sutra (the Konkwomyo- 
SaishoSkyO, Nanjo No. 126, transl. in A.D. 700—712 by the famous 
pilgrim I-tsing, § 7) is still more celebrated than the KonkwO- 



396 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


myokyO. Here the Golden Drum is called “Suvarna-prabhasa- 
drum” {Konkwomyo-ku or "Drum of the Golden Light”), the 
sound of which reaches all the numberless worlds and “extin- 
guishes” even the most heinous sins of the three evil roads (hell, 
animals and pretas). The Konkwomyd-sammai-sen or “Rites of 
Repentance by means of Samddhi of the Golden Light”, which 
served to protect the co un try, were based upon the Suvurna- 
prabhasa-sutra and explained and practised by the T‘ien-fai priests 
of China and Japan {Konkwomyd sembo, Kichijd kekwa, § 15). 

As to the Kwan-Fugengyd (§ 8) (the counterpart of the 28th 
chapter ' of the Hokkekyd or Lotus sutra), here the meditation 
on the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra is explained as the way 
of repenting the “sins of the six roots” (eyes, ears, nose, tongue, 
body and miind) and purifying these roots {rokkon shop) by 
“extinguishing” the sins. When practising this meditation, wor- 
shipping the Buddhas of the ten quarters and performing the rites 
of repentance six times, thrice in the day-time and thrice at night, 
devout penitents shall behold the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, 
seated in full majesty upon a white elephant, and they shall hear 
him preach the Law and the rokkon shdjd doctrine. Then they 
shall understand the Hokke sammai or “Samddhi on the Lotus”. 
Therefore this sutra is the last of the Hokke samba or “Three 
Books on the Lotus” of the Tendai school; the Amitdrtha sutra, 
the Lotus sutra, and this text, the first and third being the opening 
and closing sutras of the Saddharma pundarika or Lotus sutra. 
At the same time- it is the base of the Hokke sembo (§ 18). The 
meditation on the “Real Nature” (Emptiness) ranks, however, 
above all ceremonies. According to the last lines of a hymn on 
the purifying power of repentance, pronounced by the Buddha, 
this meditation “causes all sins to disappear like hoar-frost and 

' In Prof. Kern’s translation of the Sanskrit text of the Lotus sufra (Sacred 
Books of the East, Vol. XXI) the “Encouragement of Samantabhadra” is 
the 26th chapter, and the “All-sides One” (Avalokitesvara) the 24th, whereas 
these are the 28th and 25th chapters of the Chinese text. 



The sutras on repentance. 


397 


dew, absorbed by the rays of the Sun of Wisdom”. At the end 
of the sutra the Buddha explains the go sange or five kinds of 
penitence (different from the Tendai goke). 

According to the Sutra on the Meditation on the Bodhisattva 
Akasagarbha {Kwan Kokuzo Bosatsu kyd, Nanjo No. 70, 3 leaves, 
translated A.D. 424 — 441 by Dharmamitra, § 12, B), in order to 
take away all sins, Akasagarbha, the Bodhisattva of Great 
Compassion, must be meditated upon and invoked for 3X7 
days, and the Buddhas of the ten quarters must be worshipped 
with invocation of 35 of their names for one to seven days. 

The eighth century brought Prajna’s translations of the Ava- 
tamsaka sutra {Kegonkyd) of 40 chapters (Nanjo No. 89, transl. 
A.D. 796 — 798, § 9) and of the “ Mahdyana sutra on the con- 
templation of the processes of consciousness {cittabhumi-dhyand) 
of the original lives {of the Buddha)” {Shinji-kwangyo) (Nanjo ' 
No. 955, transl. A.D. 785 — 810). The 40th or last chapter of the, 
former text is devoted to Samantabhadra’s ten actions and 
vows. Even the title of the whole sutra points to this subject.- 
The fourth of these ten actions and vows is repentance for sins, 
but the Shingon sect (the Tantric School) has combined them 
into “five kinds of repentance” (Shingon goke): taking refuge 
(in the Buddha and his doctrine), penitence, consenting to and 
rejoicing in the blessing virtues (of others), “exhorting and re- 
questing”, i.e. praying to (the Buddhas), and turning (one’s own 
virtuous roots) to (the benefit of others). At the same time the 
Shingon sect calls repentance the second of its nine updyas 
(hoben) or means of obtaining salvation. The rokuji goke or 
Tendai goke, the “Five kinds of Repentance practised six times” 
(in the space of 24 hours), of the Tendai sect, based upon its 
foflnder’s oral explanations (Chi-che ta-shi's work on “Gteat 
Quietude and Contemplation”, Nanjo No. 1538, recorded by his 
pupil Kwan-ting in A.D. 594), are nearly the same as the Shingon 
goke, namely: 1. (repentance) ; 2. kwanjo (“exhorting and 

requesting”, i, e, praying to the Buddhas of the ten quarters and 



398 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


exhorting them to turn the Wheel of the Law); 3. zuiki (“con- 
senting to and rejoicing in” the virtuous roots of others); 4. eko 
(“turning towards”, i. e. turning all one’s own virtuous roots to 
the benefit of living beings and to the Buddha road); 5. hotsu- 
gwan, “uttering vows”, i.e. the four great oaths of all Bodhi- 
sattvas, to wit: a. converting the limitless living beings ; 6. cutting 
off the inexhaustible klesas (passions, bound ) ; c. teaching the 
immeasurable doctrines (gates of the Law, homon)', d. completing 
the unsurpassable Buddha road. 

Four lines of a long hymn, pronounced by Samantabhadra in 
the 40th chapter of the Avatamsaka sutra of 40 chapters, form 
the so-called sange-mon or “Text of Repentance”, generally used 
in these ceremonies. A similar sange-mon is recited by the priests 
of the Hongwanji branch of the Jodo ShinshQ, based upon Shen- 
tao’s Rokuji raisan, or “Adoration and Praise (of Amitabha), 
(repeated) six times (in 24 hours)”. A link between the penitential 
rites of the Tendai school and those of the Amidists {Jodo and 
Jodo Shinshu) is found in a passage towards the end ofthissiZtm, 
where rebirth in Amitabha’s paradise is mentioned as a reward 
of the devout penitents (§ 10). As to Nanjo No. 955, there we 
hear the Buddha pronouncing a long gdthd on the mighty power 
of repentance, on the two gates of meditation (on Matter and 
on the Absolute Nature), and on the sambon sange or three kinds 
of destroying crime by means of repentance, based upon medi- 
tation on the material world. 

§ 20, C. The different kinds of repentance (§ 12). 

Mahaydna divides the kinds of repentance into two main 
categories : that with respect to the phenomena (Jisan), and that 
with respect to the real, absolute nature of all dharmas (risan). 

Jisan, material repentance, consists in ceremonies with regard 
to phenomena, like worshipping the Buddhas and reciting the 
Sutras. All the Vinaya rites belong to it. According to Nanjo 



The different kinds of repentance. 


399 


No. 955, mentioned above, there are three classes of jisan, the 
sambon sange or the “Upper, Middle and Lower Roots” Qokon, 
chukon, gekon), differing in intensity of sensation (blood wept 
and emitted by the whole body; blood and tears wept, and great 
perspiration, not of blood but of sweat; tears wept and the hair 
of the body standing erect). Chi-che ta-shi, the great founder of 
the THen-tai sect in China (A.D. 531 — 597), deals with them 
in Nanjo Nos. 1538 and 1569, and Shen-tao (fesi), the celebrated 
propagator of the Amitabha doctrine in China, in his work on 
the “Adoration and praise (of Amitabha) in order to be reborn 
(in his paradise)” {Ojo raisan), took them up as a means of sal- 
vation second to a devout belief in Amitabha’s original vow. He 
was followed in this doctrine of repentance in worship of Ami- 
tabha by Shinran (A.D. 1174 — 1268), the great founder of the 
jOdo Shinshu in Japan, and by Soyo (A.D. 1723—1783), a priest 
of the same sect. 

Risan, repentance with regard to the Absolute Nature of all 
the dharmas (Emptiness), entire concentration of the mind upon 
the Dharmakaya of the Buddhas, gives insight into the truth 
that all sins are empty too. This is the “Secret and 
Principal Gate of the Buddhas”; it is the highest form of repen- 
tance which destroys even the most heinous sins, like as a 
hurricane by spreading a fierce fire may destroy innumerable 
plants and trees. 

The three kinds of penitential rites, explained by Chi-che ta- 
shi in his famous commentary on the Konk'vomyokyd (Nanjo 
No. 1552), called sanshii sembo, are as follows: 

1. Saho-sen, “ceremonial repentance” (belonging to the jisan). 

2. Shuso-sen, “repentance with, ^respect to ‘appearances'”, the 
things which are born and die {samskrta-dharmas) (also belonging 
to the jisan). 

3. Mushd-sen, “repentance with respect to the asamskrta-dhar- 
tnas”, things which hav>e. neither birth nor death, because they 
belong to the unchangeable Absolute Nature {risan). 



400 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


In HTnayana these three classes are represented by the Upo- 
satha and Provarana rites {saho-sen), the sasd-sen or “repen- 
tance practised by forming visions” (dealt with in the Agama 
sutras, Nanjo Nos. 543 and 545) {shuso-sen), and the kwanku-sen 
or “repentance by means of meditation on Emptiness” (m«s/io-sen). 

In Mahaydna the saho-sen are the ceremonies of repentance 
performed by the Mahayanists by means of worship, invocation, 
samadhi and magic formulae {dharatu). 

The shuso-sen consists in the visions of the “Twelve Dream- 
kings” {Juni mu-o), of the prediction of Buddha-ship (Juki) to 
Sariputra, and of the mudrd of Akasagarbha. The musho-sen is 
the meditation on Emptiness, mentioned by the Buddha at the 
end of the Fugen kwangyo. 


■§ 20, D. The Mahaydnistic ceremonies of repentance performed 

in Japan (§§ 13—19). 

After having stated the great importance, attached by the Chinese 
Emperors of the Liang and Ch'en dynasties (A.D. 502 — 581) to 
the different penitential rites of Mahayana (§ 13), we dealt with 
the kekwa and sembd of Japan in worship of the Buddha Bhai- 
sajyaguru {Yakushi kekwa, § 14), the DevT SrT {Laksmi) {Kichijo 
kewa, § 15), the Buddha Amitdbha {Amida kekwa or sembd, 
the “ Vaipulya Repentance” (Hdkwd kekwa, Daitsu hokwd (san^e) 
no ho), those in honour of Sdkyamuni, Ksitigarbha, Maitreya and 
Avalokitesvara, and other minor penitential rites like those by 
means of samadhi water (suisembd), the “eternal repentance” 
{eisen), and repentance by means of divination (sensatsu-sen) 
{§ 17). Then the Hokke sembd, very important rites, based upon 
the Lotus sutra and the Sutra on the Meditation on Samantabhadra 
^Kwan-Fugengyd or Fugen-kwangyd), were treated (§ 18), and 
finally the Butsumyo-e or Butsamyd-saiXge, ceremonies of repen- 
tance by means of the invocation of Buddha names (§ 19). 



Yakushi-kekwa. 


401 


§ 20, Dl. Yakushi-kekwa (A.D. 686 or 744 — 842) (§ 14). 

Although not mentioned in Japan before A.D. 744 (Tempyo 
16, XH 4), the Yakushi-kekwa may have been practised as early 
as A.D. 686 (VI 19), when the Emperor Temmu was very ill. 
In A.D. 744 it was evidently connected with the nightly offering 
of ten thousand lamps to Vairocana of Todaiji, worshipped with 
great devotion by the Emperor Shomu, which took place at the 
same time. The number seven being a holy number, much used 
in fixing the duration of ceremonies and especially connected 
with the Yakushi cult, the Yakushi-kekwa of A.D. 744 (XII 4) 
lasted seven days and were performed throughout the Empire. 
There was a close connection between the two Sun-buddhas 
Vairocana and Bhaishajyaguru, the offering of many lights to 
them towards the end of the year (originally to strengthen the 
sun), and repentance for sin; it was all intended to drive away 
the demons of darkness, calamity and disease. In the same way 
the kekwa rites of A.D. 749 (Tempyo ShDho 1, XII 18 — 24), 
combined with the cult of Hachiman (the Shinto war god, con- 
sidered to be a manifestation of Amitdbha, the Buddha of the 
setting Sun) and (XII 27) of Vairocana, must have been Yakushi- 
kekwa. In A.D. 750 (IV 4) the Empress Koken took refuge in 
the Yakushi sutra and performed gyddd-kekwa, i.e. circumambu- 
lation of the Healing Buddha’s image and penitential rites in 
worship of him ; and probably the circumambulatory rites of 
A.D. 773 (XII 25) were also Yakushi-kekwa. In A.D. 796 (X 21 — 27) 
these rites were practised by forty monks, i/ivited to the Palace 
by the Emperor Kwammu, in order to avert the bad omen of 
drought and pestilence, indicated, by the diviners in view of the 
fact that the water of the Pond of the Divine Spirit in Aso district 
had decreased more than 200 feet. In 805 (II 19), when the same 
Emperor was very ill, he ordered Yakushi-kekwa to be performed 
in all the kokubunji of'the empire. 

Thus the Yakushi-kekwa were used to cure the Emperor or 

26 



402 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


the Prince Imperial, to purify the people from sin, to pray on 
behalf of the soul of a deceased Emperor (A.D. 757), and to 
expel drought, pestilence and famine. In their last period (A.D. 
833 — 842), under the reign of Nimmyo Tenno, they were per- 
formed at night, while the Kongo-hannya-kyo was read in the 
day-time. Finally their place was taken by the Tantric ceremonies 
(the Yakushi-hd and other rites) and the Butsumyo sange. The 
Tendai priests were the principal worshippers of this Buddha, 
at least in later times (llth cent). 

§ 20, D 2. Kichijo-kekwa or Konkwomyo-sen 
(A.D. 739— about 1068) (§ 15). 

The Kichijo-kekwa, practised in worship of the DevT Sri, the 
Goddess of Felicity, was a ceremony based upon the Konkwo- 
myd-SaishoOkyO (NanjO No. 126, I-tsing’s translation of the Su- 
vartia-prabhdsa-sutra), since in that text she worships the Buddha 
and promises to bestow all kinds of wealth and felicity upon 
the faithful readers of the sutra. In A.D. 739 (TempyO 11, VII 14) 
the Emperor Shomu ordered kekwa to be celebrated in all Buddhist 
temples for seven days and nights in order to cause good weather 
and good crops. As the DevT SrT in the Saishookyo promises 
abundant harvests to the devout readers of the text, probably 
these penitential rites were Kichijo-kekwa. In A.D. 749 (Tempyo 
Shoho 1, I 1 — 6) the same Emperor had kekwa and tendoku of 
the Konkwomyokyo performed in all Buddhist temples of the 
Empire, evidently to promote the felicity of the country during 
the whole year; at the same time it was forbidden to kill living 
beings during those seven days. We may be sure that these 
kekwa, connected with the Konkwomyokyo , were devoted to 
Kichijo Ten. Evidently it became a regular New-year's cere- 
mony, celebrated not in the Palace, but in the temples of all 
provinces, as we may deduce from a report, made to the Throne 
in A.D. 759 (VI 22). In 767 (Tempyo Jingo 3, I 8) these rites 



Kichijo-kekwa, Amida-kekwa. 


403 


took place for seven days in all Kokubun-Konkwdmyoji of the 
country, in order to cause Great Peace of the Re'alm, 
wind and rain in good season, ripening of the five 
cereals, joy of the people, and felicity of all sen- 
tient beings of the ten quarters. Stopped in A.D. 771 
by the Emperor Konin, the annual Kichijo-kekwa of the first 
month, performed during 7 days, were reestablished and made 
a regular ceremony the following year, on account of bad weather 
and constant famine. 

From the beginning of the 9th century the Saishd-e or Saishodkyd- 
ko were held in the Palace from the 8th to the 14th of the first 
month i the Kichijo-kekwa were never performed in the Palace, 
but always in the temples of the provinces (in the kokubunji 
till A.D. 839; thenceforward in the provincial goverriment offices, 
except in Yamashiro, where the ancient custom of celebrating 
them in the kokubunji was restored in A.D. 843). In the 10th 
and 1 1th centuries both ceremonies took place on the same dates 
(I 8 — 14) and in the same places (the Saishd-e in the Daigokuden 
of the Palace, the Kichijo-kekwa in the government offices of all 
provinces), but afterwards the penitential rites of the Konkwd- 
mydkyd were not again mentioned. Yet in China as late as the 
17th century the T‘ien-t‘ai priest Chi-hiuh wrote a work on the 
Konkwdmyd-sen. 

§ 20, D 3. Amida-kekwa or sembo {A.D. 782 to the 
present day) (§ 16). 

Amitabha's cult having spread in China in the seventh century 
and in Japan in the eighth (although the Japanese annals do not 
pay much attention to it before the eleventh century), in A.D. 782 
the Hossd priest Shokai of' Kdfukuji in Nara was the first to 
celebrate the Amida-kekwa and to devote a work to these rites. 
In A.D. 848 the famous Tendai priest Ennin (Jikaku Daishi), 
who had studied and travelled in China from A.D. 838 to 84?, 



404 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


introduced the chants of the mystic branch of the THen-t'ai School 
{Shomyo bomba'i) and the Mida nembutsu or “prayers to Amitabha”, 
also called Nembutsu sammai or Jogyo sammai, which were the 
origin of the reiji saho or “rites of fixed times”, daily evening 
rites of the Jodo and Tendai sects. The Tendai priests, who 
from olden times practised the penitential rites of the Lotus 
{Hokke sembo) in the morning (asa-sembo), combined these with 
the prayers to Amitabha, the yu-reiji (saho) or “fixed evening 
rites”, which also served to extinguish sin and create felicity. 
Jikaku Daishi’s mystic songs {shoinyo bombai), one of which was 
called the “Tune of the Rite of Repentance”, were also trans- 
mitted by the great propagators of Amidism in Japan of the lOth 
and 12th centuries (Ryogen, Eshin Sozu and Ryonin), and they 
were closely connected with the Amida sembo, which jikaku 
Daishl often practised in the Imperial Palace. 

About A.D. 1000 the Chinese T‘ien-t‘ai priest Tsun-shih, called 
Ji-un senshu or “Master of Repentance” “Cloud of Compassion”, 
wrote on the “Ceremonial rules (kalpa) of repentance and vows 
for rebirth in Amitabha’s Pure Land” (Nanjo No. 1513) and also 
on the KonkwomyQ-sembo, for the practice of which he erected 
a chapel. Thus we see how the Tendai priests of China and 
Japan paid great attention, not only to the penitential ceremonies 
of their own sect, but also to those of the Amitabha doctrine. 
As to the priests of the Jodo sect and the Jodo Shinshu, from the 
beginning of their schools in Japan (A.D. 1175 and 1224) down 
to the present day they were, of course, faithful performers of 
the Amida sembo and used them as regular ceremonies. Besides 
the nembutsu and the hymns of praise, the Kwangyo or “Sutra 
on the Contemplation of. Amitayus” (Nanjo No. 198) is the prin- 
cipal text, used in the Amida-sembo of the Hongwanji branch 
of the Jodo Shinshu. 



Various rites of repentance; Hokke-sembo. 


405 


§ 20, D 4. Hokwo {Daitsu hokwo), Shaka, JizO and 
Miroku-kekwa, and Kwannon-sembo in Japan 
i8ih—15th cent.) (§ 17). 

The Hokwo-kekwa or “Vaipulya Repentance”, considered to 
be the origin of the Butsumyd sange, was based upon a spurious 
sutra, used in the latter ceremony. Like the Butsumyd sange, it 
was a penitential rite of the end of the year, performed by three 
high-priests of different sects, invited to the Paiace, where they 
celebrated if for three days (A.D. 774, XII 15 — 17) or during 
one night (A.D. 823, XII 23). 

The Shaka-kekwa, in worship of Sakyamuni, was practised in 
A.D. 832 in Daianji at Nara, in connection with* the Yuima~e 
and Saishd-e of Kdfukuji and Yakushiji (8th month). 

The Jizo-kekwa, in worship of the Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, 
was a ceremony of Kashoji in Kii district, Yamashiro, performed 
in the Engi era (A.D. 901 — 923); as to the Miroku-kekwa, devoted 
to Maitreya’s cult, we do not know when and where they took place. 

The Kwannon-sembo, based upon the Kwannongyo (also called 
Fumonbon, the 25th chapter of the Lotus sutra), were celebrated 
by the Chinese T‘ien-t‘ai priest Tsun-shih (A.D. 963 — 1032), 
introduced into Japan by the famous founder of the branch 

of the Zen sect, Eisai (A.D. 1141 — 1215), and thenceforth used 
by the Rinzai priests even in the 15th century. 


§ 20, D 5. Hokke-sembo or Hokke-sammai-gyobo or Semboko 
{A.D. 848— mS) (§ 18). 

i 

3 

This was the principal ceremony of repentance of the Tendat 
school in China and Japan, in the former country from the sixth 
century (Chi-che ta-shi 'and his teacher Hwui-sze, and the Empesor 
Wen Ti), in the latter from the middle of the ninth century 



406 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


(Jikaku Daishi). The Hokke-sembo of Hieizan, which took place 
at night and in the morning, were first performed by Jikaku 
Daishi in the Hokkedo or Hokke-sammai-do, the chapel erected 
there by him in A.D. 848 for this especial purpose. The honzon 
or “principal saint” of this chapel was Fugen Bosatsu {Samanta- 
bhadra). In the three following centuries several chapels of this 
name were dedicated by the Emperors and great ministers; and 
from the beginning of the eleventh century they became mortu- 
ary chapels of the highest families of Japan (Fujiwara no 
Michinaga having erected such a chapel in his family grave-yard 
at Kobata in Yamashiro, with Samantabhadra as honzon), and 
the Hokke sembo became masses for the dead. 

In the twelfth century Sembo-ko or Go-sembo were celebrated 
in the Imperial Palace, and towards the end of the thirteenth 
century they were connected with the Higan festival and gene- 
rally lasted also seven days. This “Festival of the Other Shore” 
(Nirvana), held in the middle of the spring and autumn, was a 
peculiarly Japanese festival for the souls of the dead, begun in 
A.D. 806 on behalf of Sudo TennD’s soul, to save the Emperor 
Kwammu’s life. Evidently because of Shen-tao’s words in his 
Commentary on the Kwangyo (Nanjo No. 198) with regard to 
the contemplation of the setting sun in the spring and autumn 
(at the vernal and autumnal equinoxes) in order to behold Ami- 
tabha’s Dharmakaya, the Japanese worshippers of Amitabha bor- 
rowed the term “the other shore” (higan) from ancient sUtras 
and composed three texts (attributed to Nagarjuna!) to prove the 
ancient Indian origin of the Higan rites. In the tenth century the 
Higan had become regular yearly ceremonies of the clergy and 
laity, and Hieizan was their principal meeting place. In the thir- 
teenth century they were combined with Hdjo-e or “Festivals 
for liberating living beings” and during those days it was for- 
bidden to kill animals. In later times people used to visit Bud- 
dhist temples and the graves of their ancestors at the Higan 
festival (of which the middle day, devoted by the Jbdo sect to 



Hokke-sembd {A.D. 848—1868). 


407 


the meditation on the setting sun, is the chief) and in Yedo the 
“Six Amidas” were visited. All the sects had adopted the rites, 
and in the Tendai, Shingon and Zen temples (offerings 

to the pretas) were made on behalf of the believers. 

The so-called Nyohd~kyo or “(Copying and offering up) the 
(Lotus) sutra according to the Law” was a second ceremony 
connected with the Hokke-sembD. This was originated by Jikaku 
Daishi in A.D. 833, who then began to practise Rokkon sange 
or “rites of repentance for purification of the six senses” in a 
grass-hut at Yogawa on Hieizan, and in consequence of a dream 
copied the Lotus sutra (KumarajTva's translation, Nanjo No. 134) 
during the intervals of his meditation (the four kinds of samddhi) 
which lasted three years. After having finished the sutra he put 
it in a small pagoda, which he placed in a Nyohodo or “Chapel 
according to the Law”. From that time the term Nyohokyo, based 
upon the words of the sutras concerning the virtuous act of 
copying sutras according to the Law, was specially used by the 
Tendai sect with regard to the Lotus sutra, and it became a 
great ceremony, celebrated at the Court by the members of the 
Imperial House. Thirty great Shinto deities were made the tutelary 
gods of thirty days of the rites, and to some of them a copy of 
the sutra was offered after the ceremony. Especially in the thir- 
teenth century, in the second or fifth month, the Emperors who 
had abdicated (sometimes four of them were still alive, called 
by the titles of Hod, IchiHn or Hon-in, In or Chu-in, and Shin-in) 
performed the Nyoho-kyd in their palaces. They were combined 
with “ten kinds of offerings”, and with the rites of repentance, 
and the sutra was dedicated (to the Buddha) in an Imperial chapel. 

In A.D. 1188 in Go Shirakawa-’s palate Hbnen Shonin (Genku) 
began to celebrate a similar, ceremony, devoted to the three main 
sutras of Amidism; and in A.D. 1204 he performed it for seven 
days in the Renge-d-in (the Sanjusangendo) on the thirteenth 
anniversary of the death' of the same Emperor. ,, 

In the fourteenth century the Hokke-sembd or Sembd-koe were 



408 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


splendid Court festivals on behalf of the souls of deceased an- 
cestors, faking place in the Imperial Palace or in the private 
palaces of the retired Emperors (Sento gosho) or in the Buddhist 
temples attached to the Court (monzeki Jiin), in worship of 
Sakyamuni, Mahjusri and Samantabhadra. The Emperor himself 
with the leading priest (an Imperial prince or a member of one 
of the five principal noble houses of Kyoto, belonging to the 
Tendai sect), the Ministers and the highest Court officials made 
pradaksina circumambulations around the images, read sufras 
and sang hymns in praise of the Buddha and his attendant Bodhi- 
sattvas. In later centuries the Hokke-sembo remained in vogue at 
the Court, and they continued their ancient tradition until the 
Meiji Restoration in 1868. 


§ 20, DO. Bufsumyo-e or Butsumyo-sange, "Festival of the 
Buddha names” {A.D. 830—1467). 

The sufras on the Buddha names, to be invoked to obliterate 
all sins and to obtain perfect wisdom in later times, are NanjO 
No. 404 (12 chapters, translated A.D. 508—535 by Bodhiruci 1) 
(11093 names of Buddhas, Bodhisattvas and Pratyekabuddhas), 
a larger sutra of 16 or 30 chapters (13000 names, also of Arhats), 
made in China in the eighth century and used in Japan from 
A.D. 846 — 918 (and also in later times by conservative leaders 
of the ceremony),' and Nanjo Nos. 405 — 407 (translated by an 
unknown author of the Liang dynasty, A.D. 502 — 557 ; three 
sufras, 3000 Buddha names, texts of repentance, and reference 
to Amitayus and nis Paradise). 

From the beginning it was a Palace ceremony of the last month 
of the year, lasting three days and nights (first XII 15 — 17; from 
A.D. 858 XII 19 — 21, but sometimes it began on the 20th or 
even on the 23th), and intended to purify the Court and the 
country from the sins of the whole year and thus to cause felicity 



Butsumyo-e {A.D. 830 — 1467). 


409 


in the next year. Its first names were Butsumyd sanrai and Rai- 
butsu sange-, then it was called Butsumyd-sange, and from the 
12th century Mi (or 0)-Butsumyo. The three leading priests, 
always of high rank, belonged to different sects (Sanron, Hosso, 
Tendai, Shingon). From A.D. 846 all provinces had to practise 
these rites for three days, and it was made a constant ceremony, 
performed in the government offices of the provinces (by seven 
priests) and in the Palace (by six, three leaders and three followers). 
Like many rites of repentance, it was especially a nocturnal 
ceremony, which lasted from 9 P.M. to 3 A.M. 

In the Palace the horizon or “principal saint” was Sho-Kwannon 
{Arya Avalokitesvara), the EmperoFs tutelary deity. Incense and 
flowers were the offerings made to the Buddhas. The three leading 
priests were alternately on service, dividing the night into three 
parts. They recited the Buddha names, accompanied after the 
beginning of the tenth century by officials playing on Japanese 
harps {koto)-, the khakkhara-\\yn\n was sung, and silk, incense 
and incense-burners were presented to the priests. From the end 
of the eleventh century the duration of the service was limited 
to one night in the first year of the reign of a new Emperor, 
and from the Kemmu era (A.D. 1334—1336) this was always the 
case, even in ordinary years. Finally the civil war of the Onin 
era (A.D. 1467 — 1468), which lasted eleven years, put an end 
to this important ceremony of repentance, as to so many other 
ancient rites. 



CHAPTER IX. 


THE RETREAT OF THE CLERGY iango, ftm)- 
§ 1. The Retreat in India. 

In his Manual of Indian Buddhism * Professor Kern deals with 
this subject as follows. “On the residence of the monks the 
sacred tradition affords much, apparently trustworthy, information. 
We are told that the Retreat during the rainy season, the Fossc- 
vasa or Vassa, Skr. Varsika, was instituted in imitation of the 
same institution with the heterodox sects.' During that time the 
monks are forbidden to travel, and have to arrange for themselves 
places to live in. There are two periods for entering upon Vassa, 
VassUpanayika (Skr. Varsopanayika), a longer and a shorter one, 
the former beginning at full moon of Asadha; the latter one 
month later; both ending with the full moon of Karttika. With 
the N. Buddhists the usual period of Retreat was three months, 
from the first of Sravana to the first of Karttika (so at 
least in the 7 th century of our era)^ .... Now-a-days it is custo- 
mary in Ceylon that the monks during the Retreat leave their 
monasteries and live in temporary huts .... The tenor of the 
regulation comes to this: during the rains the monks must 
stay in a monastery or fjny other fixed abode; in other seasons 
they may do so”. 

' Manual of Indian Buddhism, p. 80. 

^ Mahavagga HI, 1. Cf. NanjS No. 1117, the Dharmagupta-nnaya, 
Ch. xxxvii. 

•- Voyages des Pelerins Bouddhistes, II, p. 492. Huen-tsang travelled A.D. 
629—645, I-tsing A.D. 671—695. 



The Retreat in India. 


411 


In another passage of the same work we read the following 
details. “The regular period for preaching is the rainy season. 
This custom or institution, dating from the very beginnings of 
Buddhism, is common to both divisions of the Church. In ancient 
India the ritual year was divided into three four-monthly periods. 
The three terms were celebrated with sacrifices on the full-moon- 
day of Phdlguna, of Asddha, and of Karttika-, or otherwise one 
month later, in Caitra, in Sravana, and in Margasirsa. These 
three sacrificial festivals inaugurated summer, rainy season, and 
winter. The Buddhists have retained this ritual division, and 
equally celebrate the terms, but, of course, not with sacrificial 
acts. In the Sirnhalese calendar summer begins at the full-moon 
of Phalguna, the rainy season at the full-moon of Asadha, and 
winter at the full-moon of Karttika". ’ 

“The entrance upon the Retreat during the rains is fixed either 
on the day of the full-moon of Asadha, or one month after. In 
Ceylon the Vassa is limited to three months. The solemn ter- 
mination, Pravdrana, Pavarana, is inaugurated by an act of the 
Sahgha in an assembly of the chapter of at least five members. 
The Pravdrana is held on two successive days, the 14 th and 
15th of the bright half-month, on which Uposatha is kept. It is 
a festival and an occasion for giving presents to the monks, 
for inviting them to dinner, and for processions. Immediately 
after the Pravdrana there follows a distribution of robes which 
the believers offer to the fraternity. The raw cotton cloth, Kathina, 
collected by the givers, cannot be received except by a chapter 
of at least five persons”.’ 

As to the Pravdrana. festival, celebrated at the end of the 
Retreat, we may refer to Chapter IV, § 3, pp. 68 sqq., where, we 
dealt with it in connection with the festival of the dead. It is 
also stated there that according to the Chinese translators of the 
old school (of Nan-shan, ^iJj, i. £• Tao-suen, A.D. 


‘ Manual of Buddhism, p. 100. 



412 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


596 — 667, the founder of the Vinaya school in China), the month 
Karttika lasted from VII 16 to VIII 15 and the Retreat from IV 
16 to VII 15, whereas according to the translators of the new 
school (Hiien-tsang, A.D. 600 — 664, and I-tsing, A.D. 635 — 713) 
the days of Karttika were VIII 16 — IX 15 and those of the 
Retreat V 16 — VIII 15. ‘ Asadha was identified with IV 16 — V 15 
by Hiien-tsang,^ but he indicated the next month {Sravand) as 
the opening month of the Retreat, which lasted three months. 

Although Hiien-tsang and I-tsing fixed the dates of the Retreat 
for V 16— VIII 15, the Chinese and Japanese priests kept to the 
old tradition and always considered IV 16 as the day of the 
Nyu-ango ( TV. ^ ) of “Entering upon the Retreat", and VII 

15 as the principal day of the festival of the dead, identified 
with the Pravdrana festival. Yet we shall see below, that some- 
times in Japan the ango-ko, or “Expounding of sutras and abhi- 
dharmas in the Retreat", took place in the Palace in the 5th month. 

As to the different dates of the Retreat in India, the old trans- 
lators (Tao-siien c.s.) spoke of three Retreats {san ango), the 
first {zen-ango, IV 16— V 15), the middle (chu-ango, 

16 — VI 15), and the last Retreat (go-ango, ^ 

VI 16 — VII 15), each lasting thirty days. The new translators 
(Hiien-tsang and I-tsing) knew only two periods: the former 
(V 16— VIII 15) and the latter (V! 16— IX 15). 

The names by which the translators called the Retreat were 
ango, u-ango “Rain-retreat"), zage (-^5' “sitting 

summer", because the monks sat in meditation), geza , 

idem), gegyd ( J “summer rites”), gesho “summer 

books”), gekyo ^ , “summer sutras”), gedan ( ^ “sum- 
mer cutting off” (of passions), gero (5^. summer cage), 
( “summer flowers”, because the explaining of sutras 


’ Daijiten, p. 194, 2, s.v. Kachina. 

- Daijiten, p. 17, 3, s.v. Ashada-, Nanjo No. 1503 (Huen-tsang’s Ta-Tang 
Si-yii-ki, Ch. u). 



The Retreat in India. 


413 


was compared to the scattering of flowers), shukujo 
rest), and zard the second character, /aA, ro, designating 

Taoist offerings made after the summer or winter solstice, or on 
five dates: I 1, V 5, VII 7, X 12 and the third day of the dog 
in the twelfth month, after the winter solstice). 

Its beginning is called nya-ango “entering upon 

the Retreat”), kechige{'^ “binding summer”, i.e. fixing summer 
life), kessei “binding the rules”, namely of summer time), 

and geshtt, ^ , “head, i.e. beginning, of summer”). 

Its last day is named gege “unloosening summer”, 

i.e. removing the restrictions of summer life), gesei ( mm, 
“dissolving the rules”), gematsu “end of summer”), 

geman ( mm, “completion, i.e. end, of summer”), ^e/cyo 
"end of summer”) and ge-ango ( “unloosening the 

Retreat”). On the last day of the Retreat the jishi-ho, Q ^ 
or Pravdrana rites took place. ' This is the eve of the ecclesias- 
tical year and at the same time the beginning of a new period;^ 
hence the titles of two sutras, devoted to it: “Sutra, spoken by 
the Buddha on receiving the (new)year”, and “Sutra, spoken by 
the Buddha on the new year” (Nanjo Nos. 570 and 763), trans- 
lated in the Western and Eastern Tsin dynasties, A.D. 265 — 316 
and 317 — 420). Nanjo No. 923, the “Sutra spoken by the Buddha 
upon the ‘unloosening of summer’ (the end of the Retreat), Bus- 
setsu gegekyo, and Ch. XXIV of the Ekottaragama sutra (Nanjo 
No. 543, no. 32, Chapter on the amassing of virtues) are the 
same works as No. 763. ^ ' 

The term gege-so (^^ n^^^ns "gra^ss of the unloosening 

of summer”. On the last day of the Retreat the monks collected 
grass which they compared to ^the kdsa grass upon which the 

' Daijiten, p. 45, 2, s.v. ango; p. 431, 1, s.v. gege. Daijii, I, p. 88, 3, s.v. 
ango. Kokushi daijiten, p. 97, s.v. ango. Hiien-tsang, S/’-yit-fr/, Nanjo No. 1503, 
Ch. II; 1-tsing, Nanhai-kikwei-neifah-chw'en, Nanjo No. 1492, Ch. II. 

^ Kern, Geschiedenis van ’het Buddhisme in Indie, II, p. 210. ^ 

^ Daijiten, p. 431, 1, s.v. Gegekyo. 



414 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Buddha was seated under the Bodhi tree when reaching Perfect 
Knowledge. This “Grass of Felicity”, Kichijo-sd 
which keeps off all poisonous reptiles, was spread by the monks 
to sit upon during the ceremony of the solemn termination of 
the Retreat, and then distributed to the donors {dan-otsu, 
danapati, seshu ). ' 

There was also a Winter Retreat, mentioned in Hiien-tsang’s 
Si-yii-ki (Ch. I) in connection with the Kasana kingdom, - where 
the rainy season began at the end of winter and the beginning 
of spring. Therefore the monks of that country, which was very 
hot, held the Retreat from XII 16 till III 15. Also the priests of 
of the Zen sect in Japan hold a Winter Retreat, perhaps because 
two seasons were originally spoken of as the times for observing 
the Rest. ® 


§ 2. The Retreat in China. 


From the Histories of Chinese Buddhism (Nanjo No. 1661, 
compiled about A.D. 1269 — 1271 ; Nanjo No. 1524, 

Ch. XVII, sub til 2ls: com- 


piled in the King-teh era, A.D. 1004 — 1007; and the ^ ^ H 
{1^^, Ch. XIV, sub compiled in the 

Kia-t‘ai era, A.D. 1201 — 1205), we learn that the Chinese monks 
of more than 30 years of age used to observe a Summer Retreat 
of exactly 90 days. This was, however, not at all a fixed rule, 
because the climate and the character of the Chinese people were 
quite different from, those of India, and opinions differed as to 


' Daijifen, p. 431, “1, s.v. g\:ge-so. 


^[5, Eitel, Sanscr.-Chin. diet. s.v. Kasanna', Daijiten, p. 196, 1, 


s.v. Kasdna. 

* Daijii, p. 90, 1, s.v. ango. 

* Biography of the famous Dhyana-master PSn-tsih (Honjaku) of Ts'ao- 
shan, the founder of the later Ts'ao-tung (Sodd) sect in China, who lived 
A.D. 840 — 901, cf. Daijii III, p. 4211, 2, s.v. Honjaku. 



The Retreat in China and Japan. 


415 


the necessity of a retreat of 90 days. Those who preferred to 
follow the prescriptions rigorously, observed it from IV 14 to 
VII 14. They may have chosen these dates instead of IV 16 to 
VII 15, because the latter date was the principal day of the 
Festival of the Dead, which, although originally identified with 
the Pravarana festival, had acquired an entirely different character. 
The Bukkyo daijii, which refers to the above passages, points 
out that the Retreat was not mentioned among the regular cere- 
monies of the year and months, and that this was probably due 
to the fact that it was observed freely, according to local custom. 
Thus Fah-hien, on his journey to India in A.D. 399, successively 
took part in the Retreat in two countries, where it ended on 
different dates. ‘ 


§ 3. The Retreat in Japan. 

According to the Sandai jitsuroku^ (A.D. 860, X 25) a Horyuji 
missive (to the Throne) stated that there were two kinds of ArdsAf 
“expounding masters"), namely that of the kudoku-ango 

), or “Retreat of Meritorious actions and virtue 
{gum)”, established in consequence of a vow of Jogu (i.e. Sho- 
toku) Taishi (A.D. 572 — 621), and that of the kwan-ango ( ^ 
), or “Official Retreat”, instituted on account of a vow, 
uttered by Shobo-kanjin (i.e. Shomu) Tenno (A.D. 724 — 749). 
This passage shows, that like the festival of the Buddha’s birth 
and the Urabon (A.D. 606),® the Retreat was known in Japan 
from the beginning of the seventh century^ Yet the annals do 
not mention it before A.D. 683 (V 1). 

In A.D. 680, the ninth year of Terrfmu TennO’s reign, V I, 

' Nanjo No. 1496, Fah-hien’s journey, Fah-hien chw'en, also called Fuh- 
kwoh-ki, or “Record of Buddha’s country”. 

^ Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. iv, Kokushi taikei Vol. IV, p. 65, Jokwan 2 (A.D. 
860, X 25). ' ■ 

® Cf, above, Ch. Ill, § 6, A, p. 52. 



416 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


“the expounding of the Konkwomyokyo (the Suvarna-prabhasa 
sutra, Nanjo No. 127) was begun in the Palace and in the various 
temples”. ' This is considered to be the origin of the ango in 
Japan. ^ The first passage of the Nihongi, however, where it is 
called by its proper name, describes the events of three years later. 

In A.D. 683 (the twelfth year of Temmu’s reign, VII 5) we 
read: “In this summer priests and nuns were for the 
first time invited to the Palace for a 'retreat’. Ac- 
cordingly thirty persons of pure conduct were se- 
lected, who renounced the world”.^ 

Two years later (A.D. 685, Temmu 14, IV 25) “priests and 
nuns were invited for the first time (namely in that year) to come 
to the Palace for a 'retreat' * 

In A.D. 6P0 (the fourth year of the Empress JitO’s reign, V 15) 
“expounding (of texts) of the Retreat was begun 
in the inner precinct (the Paiace)”.... Vii 14-. “On 
this day alms of coarse silk, raw silk, floss silk, and cloth were 
given to 3363 priests of the seven temples who had 
taken part in the Retreat {Ango {no) s ha mo n). Alms {fuse) 
were bestowed separately on behalf of the (soul of the) 
Prince Imperial (who died A.D, 689 IV 13; Prince Kusakabe, 
the only son of Temmu and jito Tenno, A.D. 662 — 689), on 
329 priests of three temples who had taken part in the Retreat”.'’ 

This “expounding of the Retreat” {ango kosetsu, 
g^, called usually ango-ko) is the expounding of sutras and 
abhidharmas during the Retreat. Its leading priest is the ango- 
koshi (^ grfi)- 

As to the expression “for the first time”, hajimete, the character 

is often used in the annajs to designate the beginning of a 

• 

' Nihongi, Ch, xxix, p. 519; Aston II, p. 346. 

2 Daijii, I, p. 90, 2, s.v. ango. 

^ Nihongi, Ch. xxix, p. 530; Aston II, p. 360. 

Nihongi, 1,1,, p. 536; Aston II, p. 369. 

® Nihongi, Ch. xxx, p. 555 sq.; Aston II, p. 398 sq. 



The Retreat in Japan {8th cent.). 


417 


ceremony, without meaning that it was the first time it took place. 
The adverbial use of hajimete in this sense is comparable to 
that of aete {^, to dare), yoku ( , to be able to), yoroshiku 
(^, used with beshi, ought), masa ni ( shall), and masa 
used with beshi, ought). In A.D. 683 hajimete 
is apparently used in the sense of “for the first time”, but 
two years later, on IV 25, they began to invite the priests for 
the ango. 

In A.D. 742 (Tempyo 14, VII 14) the Dajokwan issued an order 
to the Departments of State affairs (Jibasho), Finance {Okura-sho), 
and of the Imperial Household (Kunaisho) to the effect that 
henceforth, by virtue of a command of the Empress Kwomyo 
(consort of the Emperor Shomu and mother of the Empress 
Koken), given IV 3 of that year, the Retreat should take place 
regularly in the Konkwomyoji ^ ^ (erected A.D. 733, 
a shrine of Todaiji, originally called Konshoji, after- 
wards the Hokkedo called Sangwatsudo, ' in accord- 

ance with the precedent of eight other temples (of Nara). This 
important fact, stated by the Daijii,'^ without reference to the 
passage where it is given, is not found in the Shoku Nihongi, 
Faso ryakki, Genko Shakusho or Nihon kiryaku. Similarly Shomu 
Tenno’s ordinance of A.D. 748 (Tempyo 20, VIII), fixing the 
Saishookyo (Nanjo No. 126) as the text to be expounded during 
the Retreat in the Capital, the Home and other provinces, ^ is 
not mentioned in the principal annals. The Shoku Nihongi^ only 
states that in that month (VIII 5) the Emperor Shomu “reformed 
and fixed the garments, utensils and ceremonies of Buddha’s 
cult". If the Daijii’s source is trustworthy, we Jearn from these 
two facts that the Retreat was held regularly in several temples 
of the capital, and that, in accordance with the statement of the 

' Yoshida Togo, Dai Nihon chithei jisho, I, p. 194, 3, s.v. Sangwatsudo. 

2 Daijii, I, p. 90, 2, s.v. ango. 

3 Daijii, l.I. 

Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xvii, p. 276; Nihon kiryaku, Zempen, Ch. x, p.286. 

27 



418 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


Sandai jitsuroku (A.D. 860 X 25) given above, Shomu Tenno 
may have been the Emperor who instituted the “Official Retreat”, 
observed in the kokubunji or official provincial sanctuaries. 

The following year (A.D. 749, VII 2) Shomu Tenno abdicated 
in favour of his daughter, Koken Tenno (A.D. 749 — 758 VIII 1), 
who was a fervent Buddhist. The same year this Empress issued 
an ordinance, stating that the Hokkekyo as well as the Saishookyo 
should be expounded during the Retreat, which was to last nine 
, decades of days (three months) and to be repeated yearly for 
“ten thousand generations”. ‘ 

In A.D. 757 (Tempyo Shoho 9, I 3) she fixed V 3 as the date 
of the beginning of the Retreat of that year, after having ordered 
•th'e. Bommokyo (^ ^ Brahmajala sUtra, Nanjo No. 1087, 
translated b^ KumarajTva A.D. 406) to be expounded from IV 15 
'to V 2 in all provinces. It began V 3, because V 2 was the 
date' of the shuki-saie ( ^•^) or first anniversary of 

Shbmu Tennb’s death, on which occasion more than 1500 monks 
.were invited to a vegetarian entertainment {sessai) in Todaiji.^ 

In A.D. 806 (Enryaku 25, IV 25) the Emperor Heijo, who 
succeeded his father Kwammu Tennb (A.D. 806, HI 17), ordered 
that during th,e yearly Retreat of the 15 great Buddhist temples, 
i.e. the 7 great temples of Nara: Todaiji, Kofukuji, Gwangoji, 
Daianji, Yakushiji, Saidaiji, Horyuji, and 8 other temples, namely 
Shin- Yakushiji, Hongwangoji ( 2jX TC # ; sometimes the 
Hokkeji instead of this temple), Shodaiji Shi- 

Tennoji, Sufukuji i.e. Shiga-dera), Giifiikiiji ( 

ins Tdji (^^) and Saiji (^ the Ninno-hannya- 

kyd (Nanjo No 17, translated A.D. 402 — 412 by KumarajTva, cf. 

above, Ch. V) should be expounded, because this Sutra of the 

«' 

' Daijii, 1.1.; not found in the annals. 

2 Shoku Nihongi, Ch. xx, pp. 319, 322. 

^ With regard to Taji and Saiji cf. Nihon, kdki, Ch. xxii, p- 144, where 
, we read that in A.D. 813 (Konin 4, 1 19) the first Retreat was held there 
with the same presents and offerings as in the other great temples. 



• The Retreat in Japan {8th and 0 th cent.). 419 

Benevolent Kings was the best text to be used in order to remove 
calimity, to promote felicity and protect the Head of the- State. 
Moreover, in the Kokubunji of ail provinces this sutra was to 
be expounded as the secondary text next to the principal sutra, 
the Saishdokyo, for the sake of the Peace of the Realm and of 
the Court. From this time forward this should be a constant rule. 
This official ordinance is found in the Fuso ryakki, ‘ but not in 
the Nihon koki. It does not agree with the statement of the 
Daijii, - which says that the Emperor Heijo made the Saishookyd 
the principal and the Ninnokyo the secondary sutra of the Retreat 
of the 15 great temples, and that the former’ text was the main 
sutra of these sanctuaries as well as of the Kokubunji, whereas 
their secondary sutras were different. The passage of the Fuso 
ryakki clearly states that from that time forward^ the NinnokyO 
should be the text of the ango of the 15 great temples, and the 
secondary text, next to tlie Saishookyo, of the Kokubunji. As to 
the Genko Shakusho,^ there we read that the Emperor commanded 
the fifteen great temples and the Kokubunji to begin the Retreat 
and expound the Ninnd-gokoku-kyo, and that he established this 
as a fixed rule. As the Fuso-ryakki gives the date IV 25, evidently 
the Retreat did not begin IV 15, but somewhat later, as was 
often the case. 

In A.D. 835 (Shown 2, X 15) by order of the Dajokwan the 
expenses for the sacerdotal robes of the yearly Retreat were 
fixed according to the rules concerning the yearly ceremonies, 
mentioned in Dengyo Daishi’s report to the J'hrone. ^ 

In A.D. 839 (Showa 6, VI 28) the Dajokwan ordered all the 
provinces to cause the “expounding and reading masters” {kotoku- 
shi, ^ ^ ) first to expound the Saishookyo in the meeting? 

e 


‘ Fuso ryakki, Heijo Tenno, p. 592, Enryaku 25. 

2 Daijii, I, p. SO, 3, s.v. ango. 

^ Genko Shakusho, Ch? KXin, p. 1041. 

Daijii, 1.1.; not found in the annals. 



420 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


of the Retreat in the Kokubunji of the monks, and then the 
Myoho rengekyd (the Lotus sntra) in the Kokubunji of the nuns 
(the Kokubun-niji or Hokke metsuzaiji, the provincial nunneries 
established by Shomu Tenno in A.D. 741, together with the 
provincial monasteries). This order was issued, because for some 
years in the provincial nunneries the explaining of the Lotus 
sufra during the Retreat had been omitted. The ancient custom, 
however, had to be restored for the sake of the country’s well- 
being, since it removed calamity and caused felicity. ’ 

As to the leaders of the ango ceremonies, the “expounding 
master’’ (koshi) and the “reading master” (tokushi) were priests 
of the kokubunji, and this was also the case with those who 
read the prayers, chanted the hymns, and scattered the flowers, 
whereas the listening monks and nuns belonged to other temples 
of the province where the Retreat was held. ^ 

The texts to be expounded were the Saishookyo, the Hokkekyo 
and the Ninnokyo, which rule was fixed in A.D. 877 (Genkei 1, 
V 23) under the reign of Yozei TennO. ' 

The Hdryuji missive of A.D. 860, X 25, mentioned in the 
beginning of this paragraph, stated that from A.D. 825 (Tench0 2) 
the Enryakuji priests were appointed Kwan-ango koshi or “Leaders 
of the Official Retreat”, and that according to a decision of the 
Dajbkwan of A.D. 855 (Seiko 2, 'VIll 2) the koshi of all provinces 
were taken from the gokaiso ( 5E. ) and the tokushi from 

the sankaiso (^j^f^). ^ Then the Hdryuji priests requested 
that not only the Ifoshi of the "Official Retreat”, but also those 
of the kudoku-ango (instituted by Shotoku Taishi) might be 
appointed koshi of the Summer Retreat; this was granted.® 

I 

' Shoka Nihon koki, Ch. via, p. 258. 

2 Shoka Nihon koki, Ch. xiv, p. 350 (A.D. 844, IV 10, ango of the first 
month; Daijii III, p. 91, 1. 

^ Fusd ryakki, Ch. XX, p. 597. 

'* Cf. Daijiten, p. 513, 1, s.v. gokaiso, p. 606, 1, s.v. sankaiso. 

® Sandai jitsuroku, Ch. iv, pp. 65 sq. 



The Retreat in Japan {9th and fOth cent). 421 

In A.D. 863 (Jogwan 5, HI 15) the Emperor Seiwa ordered 
all the provinces to have the kyo-o, ^ the “King of 5Qtras” 
{Saishookyo, Ninnokyo or Hokkekyd), expounded during the Retreat, 
in order to drive away the prevailing pestilence. ' 

The Engishiki - (“Ceremonies of the Engi era”, A.D. 901 — 922) 
gives several details concerning the Retreat of the Fifteen 
Great Temples. There were eight officiating priests in each 
of them: the /fds/n' and (“expounding and reading masters”), 
and the three hoyo ( ), or “persons in use for the rites”, 

i.e. the reader of the votive text {jugwan, ^ ]^ , “magic prayer” 
for the felicity of the donors), the priest who had to scatter the 
flowers {sange, and he who had to sing the hymns 

{bai, ), and three shami {srdmaneras), namely the joza 
shami ^ '{Ay ^), or principal sramanera, and the atten- 

dants of the koshi and tokushi. They belonged to all sects and 
were invited in the first decade of the fourth month. The Retreat 
lasted from IV 15 till VII 15. In Todaiji the texts to be expounded 
were: the Hokkekyo, Saishookyo and Ninno-hannya-kyo (entirely), 
and the Rishu-hannya-kyo (Nanjo No. 1033, 

translated between A.D. 723 and 730 by Vajrabodhi) as well as 
the Kongd-hannya-kyo ® (NanjO No. 10, translated A.D. 402 — 412 
by KumarajTva, cf. above, Ch. 1, § 9, p. 16) (one chapter of 
each). In Giifukuji the Yuimakyo (^ ^ ^, 

Nanjo No. 146, translated A.D. 402 — 412 by KumarajTva, cf. above, 
Ch. I, § 5, p. 9) was added to the three main texts (Lotus sutra, 
Saishookyo and Ninnokyo) (all entirely), and in Tdji the Shugo- 
kokkaishu-darani-kyo Desanta- 

palapati-dharanl-sutra, Nanjo No. 978, translated A.D. 785 — 810 
by Prajna) (entirely) was added, to the same 'three main texts, 


’ Ibid., Ch. VII, p. 126. 

2 Engishiki, Ch. xxi, ^ Kokashi-taikei Vol. XIII, p. 660. 

3 Cf. Engishiki, Ch. xx'O'iH p. 812: tendoku of the Kongd-hannya-f:yd, 
performed in the Kichijo kekwa and ango assemblies. 



422 


Ancient Buddhism in Japan. 


which in the 12 other sanctuaries were, as before, the only s£f;m<r 
to be explained. The ango texts of the temples erected in con- 
sequence of special Imperial vows {gogwan shoji, fPISil 
are not given, but we know from a sacrificial text (kuyo-moji) 
of the Empress Dowager, read in A.D. 859 (Jokwan 1) in Aiiiojl 
^), that at that time the same thsee sutras were tiuic 
in use; from then the Hokkekyo and the Saishodkyo should he 
explained alternately, but the Ninnokyd every year. ' The prestius 
in silk, cloth and cotton for the officiating priests, enumeraioh 
in the same passage of the Engishiki, had to be given by lie 
temples themselves, except by Tdji and Saiji, which received 
them from the official families. - The offerings of rice, however, 
belonged to the regular taxes (each temple 21 koku, 6 to, two 
sho and seven go) of the provinces where the temples were 
situated. ® 

As to the ango of the Konkwomydji (i.e. of the Kokiibunji) for 
the presents of silk for the leaders and hearers, the boiled ric., 
beans, oil, pickles, sea-weed, vegetables and salt, the regulTr 
taxes were used, and in Kwanzeonji of Dazaifii (in Chikuzen) 
they used the regular taxes of Chikuzen province. The prie'^’r- 
mentioned in this list are the koshi and tokiishi, as well as il " 
three priests for the prayer, the flowers and the hymns, and the 
three sramaneras (the principal shami and the attendants of the 
koshi and the tokushi), i.e. the same eight officiating priests as 
those of the Fifteen Great Temples, and the listening monks and 
nuns (who also received one piece of coarse silk and one piece 
of cloth). The regular taxes of Owari province served for the 
sacerdotal robes, presents and offerings of the koshi and tokushi 
of the Retreat in Shima province, and those of Mikawa province 
for the invitation of the tokushi (of the ango in Shima). ^ Although 

' Daijii, I, p. 91, 1. 

^ Engishiki, 1.1. 

' ^ Engishiki, Ch. xxvi ( ± Ift, P- 712. 

* Engishiki, I.I., p. 793, 



The Retreat in Japan*^ 


423 


the Engishiki does not speak of ango of the Hokke-metsuzaiji 
(the provincial nunneries) nuns are mentioned, and in A.D. 839 
these retreats were held, as seen above in the passage of the 
Shoku Nihon koki. 

We learn from the details, given by the Engishiki, that there 
was not much difference between the ango of the Fifteen Great 
Shrines and those of the Kokubimji. In later ages some alterations 
may have been made, but even nowadays the Retreat is ob- 
served by all sects according to much the same rides. From the 
seventeenth century (A.D. 1640, Kwanei 17, and 1661 — 1673, 
Kwanbun era) the Hongwanji and Otani branches of th’e Jodo- 
Shinshu held special ango, and after the Enkyu era (A.D. 1744 — 48) 
they had four Retreats in the four seasons (that of Summer being 
the principal one), with the Muryojukyo (the Amitayus sutra, 
NanjO No. 27, 23(5)), the Kwangyo (Nanjb No. 198) and the 
Amida-kyo (Nanjb No. 200) as principal texts, these being the 
Jodo sambukyo, also called Mida sambu or Three Amitabha Sutras. ‘ 


‘ Daijii, I, p. 91, s.v. ango.